The short story Thank You Ma'am by Langston Hughes, is about how an ordinary woman named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, brings a young boy, Roger, to a communion. Roger attempted to steal Mrs. Jones’ pocketbook, hoping to buy a pair of blue suede shoes for himself. However, the attempt backfired, and the woman caught him. Instead of embarrassing Roger, Mrs. Jones brings him to her residence. The communion in the story is when Mrs. Jones shares her kindness to interpret a resolution that has to be acknowledged. Here are some of the reasons why Hughes’ use of communion has its specific relevance. First of all, Mrs. Jones helps Roger his face, and provide him dinner. For instance, on page 1, Mrs. Jones says: The woman said: “Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” She somewhat ignored the robbery, only to assist Roger. Mrs. Jones doesn’t question him of where he lived, or his folks. Instead, she took on an action to clean his face and feed him. This is significant because Roger is still growing. He has a long life ahead of him, and he needs to …show more content…
Jones dropped vengeance out of the list. She could’ve punished Roger for his attempt, but if she did that, Roger would’ve been prosecuted for an attempted robbery. For example, on page 3, it said: “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s—because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.” Simply, she’s showing him the right way of living. This is relevant because Mrs. Jones has given Roger an opportunity to apprehend that there is no need for stealing just to achieve something he wants. If he wasn’t stopped, Roger would’ve continued this life knowing, that robbery is the only way to acquire
This action shows that Roger is very disrespectful, and that he does not care about inflicting pain on someone who does not deserve it, by doing something disrespectful. This action may cause a series of problems later on in the novel, because Roger seems to like being rude to others and insulting them.
On the other hand we have a story that is also humorous; however, his literary devices achieve a more childlike tone and his story concludes with a sympathetic effect on the reader . In “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes he takes us back to his inner thirteen year old self and his experience with being “saved” in a church. He explains the internal struggle he faces when he is pressured by a whole congregation to “see jesus” and the ironic effect it has on his perspective towards Jesus.
At the beginning of The Lord of the Flies, Roger is the mysterious boy who has a rough side to him. He kicks down sandcastles and shows no pity, but he also remains quiet and evasive when he should give input on various topics. Despite his minor mean streak and elusive behavior, Roger knows where to draw the line when the boys start their adventure. When he is throwing stones at the littluns, he acknowledges, “Yet there was a space around Henry that he dare not throw”(pg 64). Although Roger does not make the smartest decisions socially, he is still influenced British and societal morals. As the boys spend more time on the island, Roger gradually turns savage. He has broken away from Ralph’s clan and is now second -in-command of the hunters. Roger is Jack’s henchmen, and he does whatever he is told. Even the narrator acknowledges his social growth, from being the hunted to the hunter. Roger steadily climbs the social ladder so that he no longer is the submissive boy he was at the beginning of the novel, but a crude bully with wrongful intentions. He follows all of Jack’s commands with pride. Roger also takes part in a brutal killing of a pig, having no problem spilling the guts with vicious stabs. The difference between every single boy, from the beginning of their time on the island to the end, is substantial. Roger, to say the least, has also experienced change throughout the adventure. He went from an insignificant, shy boy to a cold blooded killer. Roger killed Piggy without any hesitation and terrorizes other islanders with no guilt whatsoever. In the novel, Golding uses Roger to represent the darkness that lurks in all people. No matter who we are or where we come from, every man has an evil side that is yet to be discovered. Under certain circumstances, that sinister side begins
In the South at this time, morals are uncommon. Instead, a great love of pleasure, money, and fame fills the communities and inhabits its residents. This decadence exists in both “Battle Royal” and “A Rose for Emily” and plays an important role in the main character’s lives. In “Battle Royal”, The Invisible Man is forced into a brutal fight and slandered with humiliation in his attempt at pursuing a brighter future. Decadence is present in the men who prove their social and wealthy statuses by dehumanizing black men and fighting them as one would animals. The Invisible Man tries to please the white men but states that he is "not ashamed of his grandparents for having been slaves. He is only ashamed of himself for “having at one time been ashamed"(227). Slavery in the South was over at this point, but equality was clearly far from reach. In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily Grierson is raised in a sheltered manner, because her father proved decadent refusing any man to be her suitor. She was exempt from taxes because Colonel Sartoris invented a tale to the effect that "Miss Emily's father had loaned money to the town". Decadence in both of these stories proves crucial, harming both main characters at some point in life. Ho...
Deconstruction of Thank You, Ma’am. & nbsp ; There are a million acts of kindness each day. Some young man gives a stranger a compliment, or a teacher brightens a students morning. But, in the world we live in today, these acts are rare to come by. In this short story Thank You, Ma’am, the boy, out of mysterious luck, gets taken in by the woman whom he was trying to steal a purse from. Her actions, following the incident towards the boy, may have seemed very as complicated as life is, there will not always be someone for you to lean on and depend on. The first and most foremost thing that would come to mind when reading this story is how caring Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was, that she took in the boy and nurtured him; she tried to teach him between right and wrong. She gave him food, a nice conversation, and even a chance of escape, which he chose not to take, but these methods are still an immoral way of handling the situation. If a boy were to come up to an everyday woman on the streets, that victim would not be as sensitive as Mrs. the boy she caught. To teach a young man that if you steal and you are going to get special treatment is not an effective method of punishment. First of all, the boy told Mrs. Jones that he tried to steal her purse for one reason, to buy blue suede shoes for himself. She then replies, “Well you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some blue suede shoes.
Langston Hughes found himself in a world of misunderstanding. His confusion leads him to believe that there is no Jesus. This is part of the growing process. Learning from your own experience is the most important part of life. Conflict and struggle are also important aspects of life. They define each and every part of a human’s living day. Therefore, the narrative techniques used throughout this essay truly help the reader visualize what the author sees, feels, and hears.
Roger could not bring himself to fully abandon the social norms and rules he’s accustomed to for “Roger’s
D. When Roger is throwing stones at Henry he is throwing to miss Roger doesn’t hit him because around him was a “taboo of the old life”(Goulding 62). This has always kept the boys in line, but Roger has changed now though he
Through the use of personification, Langston Hughes shows that learning is important is this story, the professor just teaches but langston is also teaching the professor that different races are equally important and that we are all the same. People in this time period were rude to black people back then then and they treated them like they were different, but Langston is trying to teach his professor that everyone is the same and know one deserves to be treated badly just from the color of their skin.”You are white--yet a part of me,as I am part of you. That's American”.This quote is langston saying that we are all the same and we are all american and nothing else is different. As a conclusion hughes was making a good point in the fact of
Everyone responds to challenges differently based on their personality. The narrative, “Thank You M’am” is a short narrative written by Langston Hughes. In this story, Mrs. Jones’ conflict is getting her purse stolen, and Roger’s problem is choosing to stay or leave Mrs. Jones’ dwelling.
Later he finds out that the man is Minister Arthur Dimmesdale and meticulously plots revenge. His life becomes consumed with the carrying out of his revenge. He himself sins as he tries to destroy Arthur's soul. Roger soon came to resemble the devil. He even notices this similarity in himself.
Mrs. Jones, a strong black woman grabbed onto the boy Roger who tried to steal her purse. She dragged him to her house and gave him food to eat and made him wash his face. Mrs. Jones handles the situation the way she does in the story because she wants Roger to learn his lesson not to steal from anyone else again to quench his thirst for things he wanted and be a good kid. “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s.” She also acted this way because it reminded of herself before when she was young just like Roger, and how she wanted something she can not get. The quote that supports this sentence is “I were young once and I
Jones changes throughout the story. She shows her dark side when she catches Roger stealing from her. She confronts him and makes a big deal about it on the street. But then she breaks down into her sympathetic and gracious side when she figures out that he has no money, no family and no home. She teaches him the lessons of not stealing and being kind. She does this because she was in this kind of situation when she was younger and she doesn't want that upon Roger. We can all learn from Mrs. Jones that you can always forgive, you can always be kind and that what you see in someone is almost never the whole picture. So you should always be kind even if you think that the person doesn't deserve
Roger Chillingworth proves to be a character whose evil is held inside and only builds up as he lets little amounts out on his “enemy.” He seems to find himself holding most of his evil inside and only
Do you still remember when you first time fell down who was the person helped you up? Do you still remember when you first time cried who was the one dried your tear? Do you still remember when you first time failed who was the one cheered you up? I will definitely say it is my mom and I think most people have the same answer with me. Why I tried to recall those experiences? It seems all little things in our daily life. Is it so important that who was person help us at that time? I would agree that the person might be not that crucial since other people also can do those things. In fact, other people really do, like our friends, other family members, classmates, and so on. However, they are different from our mom. Why? Have you ever notice that you always say thank you to other people after they help you except your mom? I finally realize this as I look at the advertisement of the P&G Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. While looking at moms from different countries around the world keep companying with their children, I wonder if I should call my mom immediately to say thank you. The scenes in the advertisement give a feeling of Déjà vu. This advertisement is so touching, and I do not believe I am the only person who wants to cry.