In Langston Hughes's short story "Thank you, Ma'am," Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones shows the reader her many personality characteristics. First, she is strict. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones dragged Roger over to her home, and with a loud voice makes him wash his face. Next, she is incredibly bossy. When Roger tries to steal her pocket book she said very angrily to pick it up. Finally, she is a caring person. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones offered Roger dinner, and even though Roger did try to steal money for shoes she still gave him the money anyway. So at the end of it all Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones maybe bossy and strict, but there is a nice caring person inside of
n the story “Thank You M’am” and the story “An American Childhood”, it shows the turning points of the main characters. In the story “Thank You M’am”, a boy named Roger tried to steal a purse off of a lady named Mrs. Jones. The storyline is about how Roger learns to be trusted again. Markedly, in the story “An American Childhood”, there was a girl named Annie, who had a big interest in the area of Science. Whenever Annie would accomplish anything, her parents wouldn't really care. The story was mainly about how Annie realized that you can always pursue your own interests, even when nobody else really cares.
"The large woman simply turned around and kicked him in the blue jeaned sitter," Though it may not seem like this is a story of learning and positive influences, so begins one of many such stories about a child being positively influenced by a parental figure in a way that will affect every decision he/she will ever make. Parents have an enormous impact on what their children do and what ideals said children believe in. Without parental interaction, children may become lost or come to accept mistaken ideals such as the rightfulness of stealing which Roger, a main character symbolizing a child, actually agrees with when the reader originally reads the story. While some children might find their way if left alone, many would become overwhelmed and their young minds would perish. In this article, two texts will be discussed that express this topic: "Thank You, Ma’am" by Langston Hughes and "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan. In the Modern Era, it is all the more important to
Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.
The use of character foil in “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes reveals how Mrs. Jones shows herself through Roger. Mrs. Jones and Rogers contrast with one another ends up allowing Roger to bring out the best in himself. The story begins with Mrs. Jones not punishing Roger for trying to steal her purse but acting compassionate and helpful to Roger. The large woman, Mrs. Jones brings Roger back to her home and lets him wash his face and he asks ¨You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink. ¨Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,¨ said the woman.¨ (pg.2) Mrs. Jones shows the quality of being kind to the boy who tried to snatch her pocketbook, which reveals that she is a good person. Mrs. Jones showed her personality
Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.
At first, Hughes primarily focused on writing for a black urban audience; throughout time, he changed his focus to middle-class blacks, and then to the men and women of Harlem as “black masses”. Hughes ended up directing his writing to both whites and blacks of all classes. His basic philosophy, taken from the poem “I, too,” was as follows:
Everyone has difficulties and tragedies in life, some more than others. Though when people show compassion, it makes your spirits rise and make your challenges more bearable. In the short story, “Thank you, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, a woman whose purse has been an attempted target by a boy, shows the theme of compassion with an overflowing amount of it. The boy, Roger, learns throughout the story that compassion is very important, and his true personality is revealed by some woman he doesn't even know.
In the short story, Thank You Ma’am, by Longston Hughs a powerful message is communicated. The story begins on an empty street in New York City where Roger attempts to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jone’s purse. Roger has to decide between running away or going with her. At her home she lets him wash his face, eat dinner and she gives him $10s to buy blue suede shoes. All this generosity leaves Roger speechless at the end of the story. He could barely say “Thank you ma’am”. And then Roger never saw her again. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has every reason to reprisal against Roger, but doesn’t. As readers we are left with the question, why does Mr. Luella Bates Washington Jones take Roger home? I believe that Mrs. Luella took roger home to teach him how to be selfless not selfish. An important lesson we seem to assume Roger lacks.
The whole process of the civil rights movement was to get African Americans equal treatment as American citizens. Hughes shows his reader the struggle of African American’s treatment through many of his poems. In “I,Too”, the reader sees the dream that the young servant dreams of every day, “They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the
In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Mayella Ewell, a young woman as well as the daughter of Bob Ewell, lives a life of insolence and isolation in the town of Maycomb. As a Ewell, which they are familiarized as being vulgar, uneducated, and indigent, Mayella is disrespected by the people of Maycomb as well as by her father. During the court case, Atticus shows courtesy towards Mayella by addressing her as a miss and a ma’am, which is not surprising for his values of equality. Mistaking his manners with sarcasm, she replies with, “Won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep mockin’ me” (pg.181). Harper Lee is demonstrating the amount of disregard Mayella faces in her life, so much that courtesy can’t be identified as just that. Mayella finds that Atticus is ridiculing her for what she doesn’t have, respect from others. With a reputation such as Mayella’s, people treat her like an outcast. Her lonely life can be a reason to explain why she always asked for Tom Robinson’s company, she wanted to experience friendship and perhaps love for the first time. Her loneliness was so clear to see, even Scout, who still has their childhood-innocent mind, can see through it. Scout compares Mr.Dolphus Raymond’s “mixed children” to Mayella because they both don’t know where to stand in their social class, “white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her
The author Langston Hughes characterizes Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones in many creative ways throughout the short story "Thank You, Ma'am". The first characteristic that stood out in the short story was Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones' kindness. She not only lets Roger clean up his face, but she lets him eat with her because she knows Rogers family at home probably was not taking good care of Roger. If a brigand came up to anyone else, I am almost positive they would not be so kind to the robber. If I was Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, I would very circumspect towards him. First, when Roger came up to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and snatches her pocketbook unbridledly,
Thank you Ma'am written by Langston Hughes, there's a main character name Mrs.Luella Bates Washington Jones. "Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here" where the very first words to come out of her mouth, so right away she sounded tough. She had no problem kicking him in the butt. Throughout the entire story she never really let down her tough voice except when she starts talking about how she use to be the same as a child. "She was a large women", just by looking at her you could get a little intimidated. I would definitely get scared if I bumped into her on a street. Even though she has a tough that tough outside her insides have feelings for him. She understands how life isn't the greatest for for
Trust is one of many components of life and it is shown through our actions and how we carry ourselves. We as human beings learn to trust each other by the words we say to one another and the actions we show to others. There are many lessons we can learn through the short but powerful story by Langston Hughes “Thank You. Ma’am”. Throughout the story there are several lessons and traits that the reader can interpret such as thinking twice before you execute the plan that you had in mind, sympathy, charisma, and even giving second chances. But more importantly, there is one lesson that specifically plays a huge role in the story itself and in American culture today, and that is trust others. There are several ways these lessons and interpretations can be put into real life situations and how they can affect us today in real time.
The experiences, lessons, and conditions of one’s life provide a wellspring of inspiration for one’s creative expressions and ideas. Throughout life people encounter situations and circumstances that consequently help to mold them into individualized spirits. An individual’s personality is a reflection of his or her life. Langston Hughes, a world-renowned African American poet and self-professed defender of African American heritage, boldly defies the stereotypical and accepted form of poetry at his own discretion. Although Langston Hughes is a successful African American poet, he, like many other Harlemites, faces obstacles
“The boy wanted to say something other than “‘Thank You, M'am”’ to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but although his lips moved, he couldn’t even say that as he turned at the foot of the barren stoop and looked at the large woman in the door”(130). Langston Hughes wrote an enduring short story called “Thank You Ma’m” that starts off with an old lady strolling an urban city at about eleven o'clock at night. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington-- otherwise known as “a large old lady” (10) teaches a lesson to Roger-- a thief searching for money to buy blue suede shoes. A central idea of “Thank You, Ma’m” is that believing in someone, despite extraordinary circumstances can change someone for the better.