Thank You, M’am

by

Langston Hughes

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Thank You, M’am Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
At 11:00 in the evening, “a large woman” is walking alone “with a large purse” slung across her shoulder. A young boy runs up and attempts to snatch the bag, only for its strap to break; the momentum from his tug causes the boy, who’d been hoping to flee, to instead fall over. The woman kicks him “in the blue jean sitter” before yanking him up by the shirt so roughly that “his teeth rattl[e].”
Hughes begins by undermining readers’ likely expectations. One might expect a woman walking home alone at night to be an easy target for a thief, but this woman quickly proves herself more than a match for her would be attacker. Although there’s no audible dialogue in this section, the actions establish the woman’s formidable presence and the boy’s frailty.
Themes
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Still gripping the boy’s shirtfront, the woman tells him to pick up her now-broken purse and hand it back to her. She scolds the boy and asks why he’d tried to rob her, to which he responds, “I didn’t aim to.” Quickly rejecting this as a lie, the woman asks whether the boy will run if she lets go of him. He responds in the affirmative. The woman then points out the boy’s dirty face and confirms that he doesn’t have anybody at home telling him to wash it. She declares that she will wash it herself and begins dragging the “frightened boy” to her own house.
The boy refuses in this moment to take responsibility for his attempted theft, setting the scene for his character growth throughout the story. The woman further subverts expectations by not condemning the boy outright, but rather astutely judging him to have no one looking out for him. By taking the boy to her place, the woman steps in and acts for his missing or absent family.
Themes
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The boy, who looks “as if he were fourteen or fifteen,” is “frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans.” The woman declares that if he were her “son” she’d teach him “right from wrong” and asks if he’s hungry. The boy only wants her to let him go, but she reminds him that his actions first put them together. “When I get through with you, sir,” she says, “you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”
The description of boy’s appearance emphasizes his youth and unimposing stature; he is not a hardened criminal, but a child. When Mrs. Jones’s reminds the boy that his decisions originally placed them in contact, she is insisting that he take responsibility for his choices. At the same time, she again reveals motherly compassion that suggests she knows he is more than one bad decision.
Themes
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Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Icon
Quotes
The young boy continues to struggle uselessly as Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones physically restrains him. She takes him to her room in a boarding house--a small, one-bedroom space equipped with a kitchenette. She leaves the door open, which allows the boy to hear the laughter and talking of the other “roomers” who live elsewhere in the house. Finally, she asks the boy for his name: Roger. Wheedling him to clean up his face, she provides him with warm water and a towel. When Roger asks if Mrs. Jones will take him to jail, she quips back: “Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere.” Then, she abruptly switches the conversation to dinner.
The boy’s physical struggle against Mrs. Jones mirrors his taciturn answers: both are attempts to keep her away, suggesting he is not yet ready to own up to his mistake. The fact that Mrs. Jones resides in a communal living space suggests her own lack of immediate family. Mrs. Jones’s ready assertion that she won’t take Roger to jail reveals that she is not interested in punishing him, but rather in helping him.
Themes
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Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Icon
Quotes
Get the entire Thank You, M’am LitChart as a printable PDF.
Thank You, M’am PDF
Talking about food leads Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones to suggest that Roger wanted money from her purse for food. Quickly, Roger corrects her mistake: he wanted a pair of blue suede shoes. With a face still dripping from washing, Roger contemplates escape through the open door. Sitting on her daybed, Mrs. Jones interrupts his runaway thoughts: “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get.” Roger is silent. Mrs. Jones continues, “You thought I was going to say, but, didn’t you?” After admitting she, too, has done disreputable things, she instructs Roger to comb his hair.
The fact that Roger eyes the door suggests he is still not entirely ready to own up to his behavior, yet he also doesn’t leave—revealing that he is changing. For Roger, these shoes embody the kind of person he wants to be and the kind of life he hopes to have. By stealing from Mrs. Jones, he was taking a shortcut to his aspirations. Mrs. Jones once again offers empathy rather than condemnation, furthering the story’s argument that kindness is often more powerful than outright punishment.
Themes
Empathy, Kindness, and Punishment Theme Icon
Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Icon
Quotes
The story shifts its attention to the divisions of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’s room, which incorporates some basic kitchen supplies behind a screen. For the first time, Mrs. Jones leaves Roger and the purse out of her sight. Roger takes care to remain in a spot where she can see him with her peripheral vision, however, not wanting to be “mistrusted.”
This is an extremely important moment for Roger: whereas before he tried to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse and then lied to her about it, he now actively refuses to partake in thievery. Mrs. Jones has treated him as more than a thief, and he clearly wants to be worthy of her kindness. This again underscores the story’s point that empathy can be more powerful than mere punishment.
Themes
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Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Icon
Quotes
While Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones makes dinner, Roger asks if she needs him to run to the store. She checks if he wants “sweet milk” rather than “canned” for cocoa. Hearing no, her pantry is ample for their purposes. She makes him dinner, and leads him through a conversation about her life, without prying into his. She shares the food she has—including giving him half of the “ten-cent cake.”
Roger not only refuses to rob Mrs. Jones, but in fact wants to prove himself helpful. This is a major shift in behavior from the squirming boy he presented as in the story’s beginning, and reveals just how much Mrs. Jones kindness has affected him. There’s nothing particularly fancy about the spread that Mrs. Jones presents to Roger, but the mere fact that she feeds him this late in the evening makes this scene feel like a family meal between parent and child.
Themes
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Family, Community, and Home Theme Icon
Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones surprises Roger with the ten dollars he had originally wanted to steal. With this gift, she offers a warning and an encouragement to “behave” himself in the future. Roger attempts to express his gratitude to Mrs. Jones, but though “his lips moved” he cannot even manage to say that before Mrs. Jones shuts her door.
At the time, ten dollars would have been quite a bit of money. This is a major moment of generosity on the part of Mrs. Jones, and, based on his behavior thus far, it’s safe to assume that Roger will try to prove himself worthy of it (even if he can’t quite find the words in this moment). The parent-like guidance attached to this surprise encourages Roger to be thoughtful about his decisions moving forward. By giving Roger cash rather than supervising his purchase or placing limitations upon her gift, Mrs. Jones shows trust in his choices and underscores that he must take responsibility for his actions.
Themes
Empathy, Kindness, and Punishment Theme Icon
Family, Community, and Home Theme Icon
Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Icon
Quotes