Thank You Ma Am By Langston Hughes

636 Words3 Pages

Have you ever got caught doing something wrong, and then something good comes out of the bad situation? In the short story Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes, this is exactly what happens to Roger. Roger was caught by Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones while attempting to steal her purse, wanting her money. Instead of calling the cops, and turning Roger in, Mrs. Jones decides to pamper him, while teaching him a lesson of manners. Mrs, Jones takes a bad situation of Roger trying to steal her purse and turns it into a good situations by showing Roger the proper way to get what he wants. In the beginning of this short story Roger seemed to be a theft and a troublemaker. Right away, in the beginning of the story Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones purse, but does not succeed. On page 1, “when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse”, this right here is the first piece of text written about Roger. This is not a very good first-impression on someone; you realize right here that Roger is a troublemaker and a theft because of his actions. Mrs. Jones reaction to this seems to be calm, but simple. She calls him out on it, not by calling the cops but taking the situation …show more content…

On page 2 “But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner of her eye, if she wanted to, he did not trust the woman not to trust him, and he did not want to be mistrusted now.” Roger’s attitude is different here because of Mrs. Jones, she relates to him by telling him “I was young once, too.” Saying this makes Roger feel more comfortable around Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones wants Roger to trust her by not forcing him to but by her actions and words to let him know that she is. Mrs. Jones teaches Roger here that if he can gain someone’s trust in a relationship he can get what he