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Strength In Langston Hughes 'Thank You, Ma' Am

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Mrs. Luella Bates from “ Thank You, Ma'am” by Langston Hughes uses strong internal and physical strength throughout the story, she uses both of her strengths to help out a boy named Roger who is doing wrong in life. Most of her physical strength are In the beginning of 'Thank you, Ma'am” when Mrs. Luella is defined as a rather large woman carrying a large purse. She is walking home after work from the hotel beauty-shop, it's eleven o'clock at night. A frail and thin young boy tries to snatch Mrs. Luella's purse. The boy Roger losses his balance because of the weight of the purse and falls back and Mrs. Luella kicks him in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then reaches and picks him off the ground and she shook him until his teeth-rattles. This indicates how Mrs. Luella is physically strong, and after she picked him up she dragged the boy to her own home. …show more content…

Luella first grabbed the boy she probably decided in her head to show him what's right or wrong because it seemed that the boy didn't have anybody to show him. When they arrive at Mrs. Luella's home, she lets Roger loose from the half-nelson and tells roger to go wash his face. While Roger was loose, he thought of running away, but he didn't he stayed and went to the sink to wash his face. When Mrs. Luella asked Roger if he had eaten supper and Roger said there's nobody at his home, so Mrs. Luella feeds him. To Roger Mrs. Bates was being a mother-like figure to him, she feeds Roger, she doesn't call law enforcement to take him away to jail, and she then gives him money to buy the blue suede shoes he wanted. I believe that Mrs. Luella was trying to be a mother-like figure to Roger all along and not treat him like some low life criminal. It's clear that Mrs. Luella had a big impact on Roger when she first catches him trying to steal her purse. In the middle of the store even Roger

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Jazmyne Nelson Dr. Rose English 101 December 11, 2017 Literary Analysis Langston Hughes’ short story entitled “Thank You Ma’am”, analyzes the interaction between Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger. It presents the readers, the idea of goodness, the theme of trust, forgiveness, and kindness. Hughes is able to convert a language that is easier to understand by characterizing the context of story, advancing important themes, and using dialogue among the characters. Trust is one of themes that stood out while analyzing the short story. Though Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has been victimized Roger worries that she won’t trust him, so he moves.

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