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What Is The Similarities Between 'Thank You' Am And The Scholarship Jacket

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Recommended: Sociological imagination: poverty

The short stories “Thank You, Ma’am” and “The Scholarship Jacket” both possess a symbol that represents something the protagonist dreams of attaining. In “The Scholarship Jacket” the main character, Martha, worked very hard to get the scholarship jacket which was given to the top student. Martha was the top of her class but the school didn’t want to give it to her because she was poor and Mexican, so they wanted to hand it to the rich girl, Joann, but Martha stands up for herself and gets her jacket. In “Thank You, Ma’am” the lead figure, Roger, wants a pair of blue suede shoes, and he tries to steal in order to obtain it but fails and the woman he steals from gives him money to buy it. The scholarship jacket represents hard work, bravery, …show more content…

This can be proven because in “Thank You, Ma’am” the text states, “The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave it from behind. But the boy’s weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so, instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his legs flew up… ‘Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes.’” This proves that when Roger tried to steal he didn’t succeed as he hoped, but the person he tried to steal from gave him the money, so he was able to get the shoes in the end. In “The Scholarship Jacket” it states, “‘Martha has a straight A plus average and you know it’... ‘Look, Joann’s father is not only on the Board, he owns the only store in town; we could say it was a close tie’... ‘Martha is Mexican’... ‘This year the Board decided to charge fifteen dollars---which still won’t cover the complete cost of the jacket’... I looked at him, forcing my eyes to stay dry. “He said if I had to pay for it then it wouldn’t be a scholarship jacket,’ I said and stood up to leave… ‘We’ll make an exception in your case, I’ll tell the Board, you’ll get your jacket.’” This shows that the school wasn’t going to give it to her at first because of her race and she wasn’t rich, but she stood up for herself and got the jacket. The two characters fail at first but Martha gets her jacket and Roger gets his shoes in the

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