Summary Of Missionary Money

The short story “Missionary Money”, written by Chester Himes presents the readers with multiple lessons. Himes uses the themes of theft, greed, discipline, and truthfulness to illustrate the importance of not stealing from your parents. Many children are not raised with proper etiquette, which leaves them with the mentality that it is okay to continue these actions because no one has told them otherwise. Receiving no penalties for bad actions as a kid will only lead to more and more irresponsible choices. The author successfully conveys his message to the readers by providing an example of a young boy who consistently stole from his mother, which eventually backfires on him leaving the readers with a valuable lesson. Himes uses the

He states, “The Next day Lemuel slipped up to his ma's dresser and went into the magic black pocketbook again.” (173) He thought maybe taking a little amount everyday won't be so bad or noticeable, but he did it so much that there was nothing left. “As the hot summer days went by and didn't nobody say nothing at all, he kept taking a little more each day” (173) Finally, after Lemuel spent all the money, his parents eventually realized that the money was missing and became furious with the only obvious suspect. The author wants people to understand that a person will most likely get caught when stealing so do not do it because there are

All he cares about is the power he earns from his friends because of the items he purchases for them. “He set up all the boys in the neighborhood to peanut brittle and ice cream and rock candy and took them to the show.” Not only did he use the money for his satisfaction, but also for his friends. Lemuel took his mother’s missionary money to get what he desired; he was willing to risk the consequences. He states that “He was the king of the neighborhood. He had to keep on being king.”(Pg 4) to demonstrate the power and drive he felt to continue stealing. Lemuel deep down figured his parents would eventually find out since more and more money kept disappearing, but he still could not