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Empathy And Punishment In Thank You, Ma Am

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Empathy and Kindness vs. Criminalization and Punishment Langston Hughes’s short story Thank You, Ma'am was published in 1958, but is still popular with readers today because of its universal themes of kindness, punishment, and empathy. In the story, a young boy named Roger attempts to steal an older woman's (Mrs. Jones) purse. When he fails and ends up being forcefully taken to her apartment, he is surprised when she treats him with kindness and empathy, instead of reporting him to the police. She makes him wash his face and cooks him dinner, as she is able to recognize that he doesn’t have anyone at home to look after him. Through their conversation, Mrs. Jones reveals that she once used to be like him, doing things she regrets now. When Roger …show more content…

The story ends with her walking him out and closing the door so fast he isn't able to say thank you to her. She also leaves him with the advice to behave himself from now on. The reader is able to infer that this short time spent with Mrs. Jones (and the kindness she offers him) will go a long way in perhaps having a lasting impact on Roger’s life. Hughes’s short story still resonates today when examining the parallels to today’s society and the negative consequences and criminalization for marginalized peoples, when empathy and kindness are better factors in helping those in need. Roger’s first question to Mrs. Jones when they get to her apartment is “You gonna take me to jail?” (Hughes). He expects to be treated like a criminal and would not have been wrong to expect this outcome. The article “Civil Rights and Criminal Justice” states that “the poor have Pahach 2 higher rates of police contact, arrest, more severe criminal sanctions, and overall criminal justice contacts than any other group for the past century” (Henderson). When examining the motives behind Roger’s theft (lack of money and parental support) and his appearance (dirty face, …show more content…

Jones feeds him and most importantly, she listens to him. This act of kindness comes from a place of respect: she doesn’t lecture him, but she listens to him and lets him know she has been there too. By displaying empathy, she is demonstrating a trait that could likely change Roger’s own future behaviors. In fact, “a lack of empathy has been shown to predict criminal behavior” (Tisak and Goldstein 7051). Perhaps Roger has never experienced this trait in another person, which could lead him to have a change in behavior when dealing with others. Showing and receiving empathy goes a long way in affecting patterns of behavior in youth. For example, the article “Criminality, cognitive distortions, empathy, and legitimacy of laws: Behaviors and perspectives of youth offenders” states that “empathic responding (and challenges associated with it) is an important factor to consider when investigating links between social cognitive processing and offending behavior among youth offenders” (Tisak and Goldstein 7051). Empathy is a learned behavior and Mrs. Jones is able to teach this to Roger when she listens to him, shows she understands

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Rogers, C. (2012). Carl Rogers on Empathy. [online] YouTube. A. Background:

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The healing properties that empathy can cause are later illustrated by Avery's correctional officer. The correctional officer initially had no compassion and or empathy for Avery Jenkins but as he stood in the courtroom and listened to Avery’s past in the foster system he began to empathize with Avery as he too was “Moved around like [he] wasn't wanted nowhere”(Stevenson 175). This led the correctional officer to start to sympathize more with Avery as indicated by him buying Avery a

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Making good choices can help you in life’s biggest obstacles. When making good choices people can feel good about themselves. In the story “Thank you, M’am by Langston Hughes, the author shows how Roger made a bad choice and that cost him a lot “She was walking alone, when a boy ran up from behind her and tried to snatch her purse” (123). Roger tried to steal the woman’s purse and he got caught. After talking to roger about how what he did was bad in the end he changed.

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when it came to tom Robinson trial they say why it is good to have empathy. lizabeth show empathy by planting marigolds in a couple of years because she understands why miss lottie planted them in the first place "for one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that his life is a barren as the dusty yard of our town. i too have planted marigolds.'' even though the flowers made her mad she understands why miss lottie planted them to create beauty in a time of great poverty and depression. not only that she understands why she planted them she plants them for miss lottie to show that she is sorry for what she has done to her flower.empathy can be shown in many diffrent ways sometimes you can even realize what

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A few examples are Mrs. Dubose, Tom Robinson, and Helen Robinson. Mrs. Dubose is given empathy when Atticus allows his children to read to her longer than they should have. It is empathetic because Atticus knew that she was a morphine addict trying to be clean before she died and he knew by having Scout and Jem read to her it would keep her clean longer. Tom Robinson had received empathy as i explained earlier and had also given empathy. We know he gave empathy because he says he felt bad for a white woman which was uncommon.

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“ I have done things too, which I will not tell you,” Mrs.Luella Bates Washington Jones said to Roger the boy that tried to steal her purse. In the story “ Thank You Ma 'am ” I believe that Mrs Jones is caring because Mrs. Jones brings Roger into her house, and tries to help Roger. The most obvious why Mrs.Jones is caring is because she lets Roger into her house even when he tried to steal her purse, I know I would never just let him in my house if he tried to steal my purse I would of called the police. First of all she brings Roger to her house and then makes him dinner. I would never make a boy dinner who tried to steal my purse.

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A central theme in the short story “Thank you Ma 'am” by Langston Hughes is a little kindness goes a long way. One act of kindness can change a person’s life forever. Her unnecessary kindness made a major impact on Roger and changes him. As the story progresses, we see that Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones shows empathy and kindness for Roger. That kindness appears to pass onto Roger near the end of the story.

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“When I get through with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones,” the large lady said fiercely. In the edge of your seat story, “Thank You Ma’am,” by Langston Hughes, the main character of the story is very entertaining with every action that she takes. The main event that had happened in the story is, a boy (Rodger) wanted to get blue suede shoes and he didn’t have enough money, so he tried to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones purse, and that was a bad choice. After that, she caught him with a strong, bold arm and took him to her house. While there, she talks with the boy and feeds him.

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