The Short Stories of Langston Hughes

August 18, 1997
This 47-story collection of both the widely published and the seldom seen is "a welcome and overdue addition," said PW.

Jasper - In life people normally have problems just like the boy in the story “Thank You Ma’am” but that is not what we are going to talk about today. Today we are going to talk about how the woman in the story is caring. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. In the story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes tells me the woman is caring. The woman is caring by giving the boy ten dollars to buy shoes, the woman gave the boy a place to sleep, and the woman fed the boy. Take a look in the story “Thank You Ma’am” the woman was caring because she gave the boy ten dollars to buy some blue suede shoes. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. I believe she did this because she felt bad for the boy. The text said, “now here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes”. This means that the woman wanted to give the boy ten dollars because she felt bad for him. For example the woman went really hard on the boy at the beginning so the woman felt bad for the boy. This shows that the woman is caring. Anyway in the story “Thank You Ma’am” the woman is caring by giving the boy a place to sleep. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. For example the text said, “she led him down the hall to the front door and opened it “good night! Behave yourself, boy” she said, looking out into the street”. I think the woman did this because she felt sad for the boy. She felt sad for the boy because he does not have anyone to help him with money or him and that is why he tried to steal the purse. This shows that the woman is caring. Anyway in the book, “Thank You Ma’am” the woman is caring because she feeds the boy after she found this boy on the street trying to steal the woman's purse. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him.For example the author put in “she heated up some lima beans and ham she had in the ice box, the cocoa, and set the table”. I think the woman did this because the woman noticed the boys face at the beginning of the story. The text said, “um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” The way I see it is the woman felt bad for the boy because he probably does not even have a home. That is why she fed the boy. This shows that the woman is caring. As you can see the woman in “Thank You Ma’am” is caring to the boy even though he tried to steal the woman's purse. The woman is caring because she feeds the boy, the woman is caring because she gave the boy a place to sleep, and giving the boy money. The woman went from being angry and dragging the boy down the street to letting the boy sleep in her house. For now on I will not judge someone by what they are doing. You never know maybe they are doing it for a reason. Sometimes you just have to say thank you ma’am.