Kindness Can Bring Out the Best in Everyone: Theme in “Thank You Ma’am” Langston Huges’s short story “Thank You Ma’am,” is about Rodger trying to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones purse to buy some shoes. She drags Rodger to her house and she lets him wash his face, eat food. She did not call the cops because she made bad decisions, around his age so she help and was kind so he could be thankful. The lesson of the story is that kindness can bring out the best in everyone. In the beginning of the story Rodger tried to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and she picked him up and made him sorry. Most people would have called the cops. All she did was take him home to figure out what to do with him. “ When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a hall, and into a large kitchenette furnished room at the rear of the house.” So she took him to her house to give him shelter and to talk to him to see why he need money. She wants help him and find out why he tried to steal so she can help him and show him kindness. Another lesson is you have to forgive to show kindness in others. In the middle she does not call the cops because she has done things she is not proud of and she wants to be forgiven. So she is forgiving him as long as he does not steal from anyone else. “ I have done things, too, which I would not …show more content…
Rodger tries to steal from Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones but he fails, so she picks him up and she brought him to her house. Where at her house she allowed him to wash his face, eat a great meal, and paided him ten dollars so he could buy some shoes he wanted. She did all that's because she made some mistakes as a kid so she wanted to forgive him as she would wanted as a kid. She hoped he knew not to try and steal anymore. So Rodger appreciated her forgiveness and kindness. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones did care for Rodger or would not have been so nice to
He demonstrates his aunt’s willingness to help writing: “‘I know that things are bad between you and your mom right now, and I just want you to know that I am on your side.’” Her generosity made a great impression on Andrews. He extends this thought further when he writes “‘And in the meantime, if you ever need to get away, my house is always open to you. And to Darian, too.’” The trust his aunt placed in him influenced him hugely in his life. He continues to impress this point recording: “I was grateful but shocked. She and Mom were really close, and for Susan to go behind Mom’s back like that was huge.” He used emotional change in order to exhibit how moved he was by the support he received from his family members even if it was only one ally who was on his side from the start. This abundant amount of assistance from his aunt causes the audience to empathize by relating personal experiences from their own families to the
In the high criminal neighborhood where the other Wes lived, people who live there need a positive role model or a mentor to lead them to a better future. Usually the older family members are the person they can look up to. The other Wes’s mother was not there when the other Wes felt perplexed about his future and needed her to support and give him advises. Even though the other Wes’s mother moved around and tried to keep the other Wes from bad influences in the neighborhood, still, the other Wes dropped out of school and ended up in the prison. While the author Wes went to the private school every day with his friend Justin; the other Wes tried to skip school with his friend Woody. Moore says, “Wes had no intention of going to school. He was supposed to meet Woody later – they were going to skip school with some friends, stay at Wes’s house, and have a cookout” (59). This example shows that at the time the other Wes was not interested in school. Because Mary was busy at work, trying to support her son’s education, she had no time and energy to look after the other Wes. For this reason, she did not know how the other Wes was doing at school and had no idea that he was escaping school. She missed the opportunities to intervene in her son’s life and put him on the right track. Moreover, when the author was in the military school, the other Wes was dealing drugs to people in the streets and was already the father of a child. The incident that made the other Wes drop out of school was when he had a conflict with a guy. The other Wes was dating with the girl without knowing that she had a boyfriend. One night, her boyfriend found out her relationship with the other Wes and had a fight with him. During the fight, the other Wes chased the guy and shot him. The guy was injured and the other Wes was arrested
Lennie appeared out of the brush by the deep, green pool of the Salinas River. He had been running. He knelt down quietly by the pool’s edge and drank barely touching his lips to the water. He finished drinking and sat down embracing his knees on the bank, facing the trail entrance. He became very skittish and jumpy. Every little noise prodded for his attention. He knew he had made a huge mistake and George would be mad at him. He had remembered though, that George told him to hide here and wait for him.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”-MLK Jr. In the book A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines explores the relationship between a student and a teacher in Bayonne, Louisiana, in the 1940s, and how their actions affect the society they are living in. Jefferson, a young black man, is accused of a murder, and is sentenced to death because of his race. Miss Emma, Jefferson’s godmother, wants Grant Wiggins, an educated black teacher to “make him a man” before Jefferson dies. Even though Grant was reluctant that it would amount to anything, but he gave his word that he would try, and soon after a couple of visits to the jail, Grant starts to develop a bond with Jefferson. As the book progresses, Jefferson learns that you need to take responsibility for your own actions, you should always be humble, one should never submit their dignity no matter the circumstances, and always remember that even heroes are not perfect.
There are many more examples throughout this movie that can be connected or assessed to the many different concepts that was learned. There are many real-life events and these concepts are important because they allow people to see how different types of people and families deal with stress and problems and it is important not to judge or jump to conclusions and maybe take a step back and take time to consider what others may be going
She cannot grasp the fact he needs her forgiveness before he is able to forgive himself.
In today’s society, acts of compassion are rare as we get more and more focused on satisfying our desire for success and wealth. However, humans do sometimes show remarkable acts that melts the hearts of men and women and restore faith in humanity within those who are less optimistic. But it might not always be a kind return that you may get from such action. In the story “Sweat” by Barry Webster, a young girl named Sue allows Jimmy as an act of kindness to lick her “honey” on her body. As a result, Jimmy chokes from the honey and Sue gets more rejected from the other students at her school. By using characterization, dialogue and narration, Webster demonstrates the theme that compassion and kindness can bring more consequences than benefits when these actions are done by those who are different.
When someone cares for someone else they protect them even if it means hurting them in the end. In “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck tells the story of two migrant workers struggling to get by in life. One of the men, Lennie, is mentally ill and is constantly getting in trouble. He likes to touch soft things, even if he should not be touching them. Geroge, the other man, has to constantly take blame for Lennie’s actions. George’s relationship with Lennie is very meaningful yet dangerous at the same time. It is meaningful because George takes care of Lennie when no one else will, whenever Lennie gets himself into trouble George has to take the grunt of the outcome, and, in the end, George has to make a decision that not only affects his life but also Lennie’s, whether it is for the good or not.
Growing up, George had a wild childhood. His parents owned a tavern, which they lived above, and they were rarely around to give George the guidance a small child needs. George felt little love from his parents. He came from a poor family and sometimes didn't even know where his next meal was coming from.
The novel A Lesson Before Dying is about a young, college-educated man and a convict, Grant Wiggins and Jefferson. Grant is asked to make a man out of Jefferson who is convicted of killing a white man during a robbery in which he got dragged along to. Grant is asked by Emma Lou to make a man out of Jefferson, so if anything, Jefferson can die with dignity. Something that he was striped of when he was tried and his attorney used the defence that he is a hog. While trying to get through to Jefferson, Grant struggles because he is so far and separated from his own community. He holds resentment toward the white man and wants to get away from his town which he thinks is an on-going vicious cycle of misery. The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines depicts the social and racial injustices faced by African Americans in the South in the late 40...
George shows extreme devotion and loyalty to Lennie by serving as Lennie’s “guardian angel”. Ever since Lennie's Aunt Clara had passed away, George has been caring for Lennie, providing Lennie with daily essentials including food and companionship, trying to give Lennie a life filled with honest labor, despite Lennie’s disadvantage. Most people would view Lennie as a mentally-ill person, and some may even take advantage of him. Instead, George takes Lennie’s life into his own hands and protects Lennie by watching over him. After all, they are both interdependent with one another; they both need one another. Lennie cannot think for himself and therefore depends on George’s intelligence to make good choices for him, allowing him to survive. On the other hand, George is a small man and requires Le...
As Winfield 's wife, Amanda is worthy of love and respect. Amanda is a southern lady, when she was young, she had an attractive appearance and graceful in manner, and her families were also quite rich. These favorable conditions made her the admiration of many men. Still, her final choice was a poor boy. She did not hesitate and bravely to choose her own love. Though her marriage was not as good as she had imagined the happiness of life, and the husband, Winfield meager income also drinking heavily, finally abandoned Amanda and two young children, but she still remembered and loved her husband. Her husband 's weakness did not make Amanda fall down; instead, she was brave enough to support the family, raising and educating of their two young children. Daughter Laura was a disability to close her fantasy world, and she was collection of a pile of glass small animals as partners. Amanda knew Laura sensitive, fragile, she was always in the care and encourages her daughter. Because of her shortcomings, Laura sometimes frustrated and Amanda immediately replied that "I 've told you never, never to use that word. Why, you 're not crippled, you just have a little defect". Amanda for the care of the children was more reflected a mother 's strong from the play that Amanda paid money to send Laura to typing school. She hoped daughter have a better future and married a good man to take care of the family, and encouraged her daughter, prompting her to go out of the glass menagerie to experience her real life, but Amanda placed more expectations for his son Tom because her husband left home, Tom is the only man and the mainstay of the family. She wanted Tom to realize that is a kind of family responsibility, also is a kind of essential social
In stating this Mrs. Jones herself has shown weakness in her lifestyle.&nb now opened a door for the boy, in showing him through another statement that intended that it was still wrong to make an attempt to steal someone’s pocketbook, but you could still get away with the crime. From the events in the story, the most obvious and penetrating theme would be that Mrs. Jones taught the boy a valuable lesson by taking him in and pampering him. But, by using the methods of deconstruction and digging deeply into the true theme of the short story, you will find a recessive theme, secondary to the obvious. In “Thank You, Ma’am,” the apparent theme is not as it seems, and the true seemed like a strong role model for the boy, but truly set a poor example for the boy by convincing him, not knowingly, but in her sub-conscious, that it is admirable to steal and beg for things that you do not have and want. A very important lesson could be taught within either theme, and in the end it is a fight between two old enemies, good and evil. & nbsp;
“Sometimes it 's easy to walk by because we know we can 't change someone 's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.” ~ Mike Yankoski
10. The theme of the story is that people will do anything for their loved ones even though it means it will hurt other people that are innocent. The quote “How brave. How desperate. How insane. To keep her son from a manslaughter charge that might have turned into murder, she would scar herself and send another man to his death” (328) describes how Connie did everything she could to protect her son Neil, despite the fact that she would be hurting an innocent man. This theme is very true and applies in many situation where people are carelessly blamed from crimes that they didn’t commit.