How Does Langston Hughes Teach Someone Right From Wrong

Most people have a family or parents that teach you right from wrong. Not Roger. For Roger doesn't have any family or money and tries to steal a woman's (Mrs. Jones) purse. Mrs. Jones takes the boy back to her house and gives him dinner and money and moreover, a sound life lesson. I infer what Langston Hughes was trying to convey to the reader is that it is up to the community to teach someone right from wrong if someone doesn't have a family or parents. An important quote is ¨There is no one home at my house¨(Pg 6) Says Rodger. This means he is living in a house, not on the streets, nevertheless, no one is living in that house. This is important because even if his parents are alive and living in the house, they aren't around much. No one is there to teach him what is right, for instance, not to steal. The one who tries to teach him not to steal is Mrs. Jones.

Jones says that he ought to be her son, for she ¨would teach him right from wrong¨- (Pg 5). She may be implying that his parents aren't doing a good job of raising him, and the community should do what she is doing: teaching him a lesson but also giving him a dinner. This is important as it shows that Mrs. Jones might feel motherly to Roger, and it shows Roger that learning honorable behavior can help you in life. In the end Mrs. Jones tries to teach Roger not to steal again by saying: “Do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocket book nor anybody else's” - (Pg 7). She might think he will listen to her and not steal again. If this is true, then somebody from the community should have stepped up and tried to do the same earlier. In conclusion, the moral of this story is that in order for someone to learn what is respectable or at least right, someone else must teach them. If they have no family or parents that to do this, then consequently it is up to the community to help that person