A Literary Analysis Of Thank You, Ma 'Am' By Langston Hughes

Miriam Yakubova
Townsend Harris High School
English 12
11 July 2023
“Thank You, Ma’am” Literary Analysis Essay In “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, the author portrays an antagonist as a large woman named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones who stops the protagonist Roger, a teenage boy from stealing from her. The way that Roger is being characterized in the reading is as a desperate, misplaced youth rather than to be seen as a bad person. What Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones does to cause change in Roger is that the lady catches him and takes him to her home to teach him a lesson by attempting to explain things from right to wrong. The way Roger changes in the end of the story is that he has developed a deeper respect for dignity

Luella Bates Washington Jones. He had attempted to rob her of her pocket book in hopes of purchasing himself a pair of blue suede shoes. Mrs. Luella brought him to her house to teach Roger a lesson that it is okay to ask for help. This can be seen in the reading on page two where Roger states “ ‘I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,’ said the boy. ‘Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes,’ said Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. ‘You could of asked me.’ ”. This quote shows that when his theft fails, Mrs. Jones brings the terrified Roger back to her home and demands that he get washed and eat dinner. Although Roger's history is mainly unidentified, it is clear from his many silences that he is probably ashamed of his home, his distant family, and his lack of money. He struggles to get away from Mrs. Jones at the beginning of the narrative, and lies about trying to steal something instead of accepting responsibility for his

Luella Bates Washington Jones, the antagonist of the reading. After the interaction that had occurred between Mrs. Jones and Roger at eleven o’clock at night, when she had stopped Roger from stealing her pocket book, she had taken him into her home and taught him a lesson that she had gone through herself. Mrs. Jones tells Roger to never repeat his mistakes by stealing a person's belongings and that he should behave himself. This is shown in page three where she states that “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s—because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.” One way Mrs. Jones causes Roger to change is by behaving himself and showing others respect by not repeating his mistakes by robbing peoples belongings in order to prevent trouble and