Generosity In Langston Hughes Thank You, Ma Am

Trust and kindness are usually not very freely given, and it is rare that it is given to a total stranger. However, if someone is in need of trust, it should be the duty of any human to help them. In Langston Hughes short story, “Thank You, Ma'm,” the main character Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones demonstrated a true act of generosity when she took Roger to her home and allowed him to to be cared for, when she told him about her life story, and when she gave him ten dollars for his shoes. These acts of kindness were not required of Mrs. Washington, but she gave them to Roger freely out of the goodness of her heart. This is demonstrated early in the encounter when Roger approached her. When Roger first meets Mrs. Washington, it is out of hostility he does so, and this began his meet up with an unlikely hero. In the beginning, Mrs. Washington immediately knocked roger onto his
back at the thought of having her handbag stolen and kicked his rear end, but she felt sympathy toward this young man. She took Roger into her home and treated him very well in the following ways: she allowed him to clean his face with warm water and a clean towel, she fed him dinner, despite her low income, and she taught him a life lesson. The allowance of kindness left Roger dumbfounded, and he attempted to compensate for this by doing her favors and gaining her trust. Mrs. Washington wanted this trust to be built as well; she showed him how they weren’t very different at all. Later, as they sat in the restroom, Mrs. Washington tells Roger of how she was once a young girl herself. Since she was in his shoes before, she understood what Roger was going through. She was like a mom to Roger for the very brief time they had been together. This spoke volumes for Roger, and he understood that he must change. If he were to do this though, he would need to understand what it was like to be good. In Roger’s eyes, Mrs. Washington was a saint, and this showed him that there was hope for him to be a good person. At the end of their far to short meeting, Roger received the icing on the cake and a lesson that carried a lifetime of wellness and honesty. Finally, Mrs.
Washington gave Roger a gift he would likely never forget. On the way out of her house, Roger was given the money to buy what he desired, blue suede shoes. When he received this gift, he was left utterly speechless. He wanted to say thank you very badly, but he only muttered it as the door slammed. Roger never saw Mrs. Washington again, and he had learned a very valuable lesson that night, Roger realized that there was hope for a brighter tomorrow. He had an opportunity to treat others with true generosity, just as Mrs. Washington had treated him with.
In conclusion, Mrs. Washington was truly generous. First, she had treated a total stranger with the utmost kindness, and invited a boy she had never met into her home to be treated well. Second, since she related to him, she had relayed her life story and related to the strange boy. Finally, she gave the same boy that had attempted thievery on her money to buy what he desired and taught him a lesson of grand proportions. Mrs. Washington’s practices helped to shape Roger’s future, and it gave him a hope for a magnificent
tomorrow.