Langston Hughes 'Thank You, Ma' Am

In “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, the two stories both share a similar theme. It is portrayed by both authors that the moral of the stories is that all actions have consequences, whether they are good or bad. Langston Hughes writes a story about a sweet old lady that is walking down the sidewalk alone, when a boy comes up behind her and tries to steal her purse. Instead of being upset about the situation, the woman takes the boy into her house and takes care of him. On the other hand, Robert Frost creates a poem that is about a man that has two possible road he could take. One is much more worn and walked on, while the other has a fresh coat of leaves as if nobody has been on it in a few months.
“Thank You, Ma’am” has a boy named Roger and a lady named Mrs.
Luella Bates Washington Jones. The adolescent is not from a wealthy family and is running low on money. In contrast, the woman is doing just fine in life and lives happily. The author uses dialogue to put off a specific mood. “The woman said, ‘What did you want it for?’ The boy said, ‘I didn’t aim to.’ She said, ‘You a lie!’”. This quote goes to show that Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is very upset with Roger when he tries to take her purse, but shortly after that, she says, “‘Then it will get washed this evening,’ said the large woman starting up the street, dragging the frightened boy behind her.”. Even though the woman is upset with the boy, she offers to wash his face for him and get him cleaned up back at her house. Roger’s decision of trying to take her purse had a consequence, but the kind lady decided to take care of the less fortunate and help him
out.

Robert Frost uses a different approach to the theme by writing a poem using rhyming and figurative language. There is one man, two paths, and he can only choose one. He has a tough decision, but ends up taking the right one. “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Sometimes, people have two paths… An easy route that many people take, and a more difficult way that tends to be taken less. In this case, the man takes the less traveled path, and we can assume that the difference it has made is positive. For the man, he ended up with a good outcome and a good consequence because the road might’ve been worse, but it all came out well.

In comparison, “Thank You Ma’am” and “The Road Not Taken” both have characters faced with difficult choices but both end up being for the best.
Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones decides to take Roger in, and he ends up being very thankful for it. “The boy wanted to say something else other than “Thank you ma’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked at the large woman in the door.”. The boy feels very bad about trying to steal her purse and wants to say something other than, “Thank you.”, but doesn’t get the chance to. The man in “The Road Not Taken” takes the road less traveled, and it ends up being a good thing for him. Sure, he might’ve had to work a little harder or give a little more effort, but he ends up satisfied and happy with his
decision.

Both authors get the same point across, but in two different ways. Roger decides to try and take Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’ purse and fails, but she then chooses to offer a gesture of remorse and gives the boy somewhere to feel welcome and a place to eat, clean up, and hang out. Likewise, the character in “The Road Not Taken” is faced with a choice that could either benefit him or negatively impact him. He makes the choice to take a path that not many other people had taken, but he comes out happy that he made that decision.