Thank You Ma Am, By Langston Hughes

There are many people in the world who need someone to look up to. Sadly, some people don’t have someone to learn from. In the story “Thank you Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, the main character, Roger who doesn't know the correct behavior to have, so Mrs. Jones shows him the way to act.

Throughout the beginning of the story, Roger learns that his actions can have bad consequences. His actions end up really affecting his behavior. For example, when he tries to snatch Mrs. Jones pocketbook, “Instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back onto the sidewalk.” This is Important because when he falls, Mrs. Jones catches him and he could get into trouble. Another instance where his actions cost him is when they are at Mrs. Jones house and she talks about how she could have called the police on him! That probably scared Roger away from stealing by itself because Roger really didn't want to end up in Juvie. Another example is when Mrs. Jones puts him
in a half-nelson and dragged him along. A half-nelson means your basically holding someone in a headlock! At this point in the text he really looks like a bad person as hes getting yelled and dragged along. His actions are really beginning to affect what is happening in the text.

In the middle of the story, Roger really begins to learn to be kind to others and that really helps him improve his actions along with the way he is seen as a person.
One example is when he is invited into Mrs. Jones house even though he just tried to steal from her. This is important because it affects the way Roger feels and it shows him how forgiveness is important. Another important event that happens is when Mrs. Jones explains that even she once stole pocketbooks. It shows Roger that many people make mistakes but it’s important to learn from them. Another important piece of the text is when Mrs. Jones helps Roger learn to not steal from others. As a quote says “give a man a fish he eats for a day teach a man to fish he eats for life.” What this quote is saying is that if you teach someone something it will stick with that person. At this point in the text, Rogers outlook on life changes as he is shown kindness and will likely spread that kindness to others, and his behavior becomes a lot
better.

In the end of the story, Roger seems to be building better manners and trust with Mrs. Jones, which is key for improving his behavior. First, when he is left alone in a room with Mrs. Jones pocketbook he moves to make sure that Mrs. Jones could see him if she wanted to. This is key because it shows, a: Roger knows better than to steal and b: is trying to build trust with Mrs. Jones, which is a massive breakthrough for him because he was literally just trying to steal from her. Another example is when he offers to go get milk for Mrs. Jones which is incredibly kind of him. This really shows his actions gradually getting better which is really helping him in the story. Also when Mrs. Jones gives him the $10 “The boy wanted to say something else other than thank you Ma’am,” which seems small, but is really huge for Roger because he really didn’t have any manners before. As you see in this point of the text Roger has really grown as a person, and helping him build trust along the way.

In “Thank you Ma’am” we watch as Roger learns from Mrs. Jones to behave better because it will get him in a lot less trouble. If he is simply kind or doesn't steal, he could change him and someone else's life for the better more than he can imagine. We can learn from this that we should respect others along with learning from one another for a positive outcome on everyone. Just be a little better person and the whole world could improve.