Thank You Ma Am Short Story

In the short story, “Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes,” Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is a large and kind old woman. In the story, Roger, a young fourteen year old boy, tries to take Mrs. Jones purse. After snatching her purse, he falls to the ground where she picks him up and asks him why he is so dirty. After making him pick up her pocketbook, she takes him to her home. There, she makes him wash his face and eat a good meal. While making his meal, she asks Roger why he tried to steal her pocket book. He answers her by saying, “I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes (Hughes 2).” After eating, she sends him on his way, but before Roger leaves, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones gives the young boy ten dollars to buy a pair of blue suede …show more content…
Luella Bates Washington Jones is a large woman. The story states, “She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails (Hughes 1).” When readers hear that, they picture a very tall and kind of a bigger person. A woman with long legs and long arms; for many readers, this is a scary looking woman. In the world today, everyone expects that women are more discreet, and are not able to defend themselves; however Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is proof that is not true. Ms. Jones stands up for herself, but also has a soft side about her too. In the story, Mrs. Jones asks Roger why did he not just ask for the money instead of trying to take it from her pocketbook. If Roger would have asked for the money in the beginning, a reader can infer she would have given the money to Roger. Just as when she was a kid and wanted things, she wants kids to have what they want and need. I believe Roger was thinking that since Mrs. Jones was an old and large woman, she could not move fast or chase him down when he ran off. When he tries to grab her purse, he trips and falls; even though, she was an older woman, she kicked him in the butt and jerked him off the …show more content…
Luella Bates Washington Jones has many different last names. We, as readers, learn this when she speaks to Roger saying, “When I get through with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones (Hughes 2).” Throughout the text the reader can infer she has been married more than once, and probably has had many kids in her past. Therefore, she knows how children behave, and expects kids to mess up. Raising her own children, she realized that children make mistakes, but having good parents help them learn from their mistakes. Also, her last name makes readers aware that she has to be involved with the world a lot. To be married three or more different times, she has to know how people can not always be trusted, and how different types of people behave differently because of their home