Touched By A Stranger

Touched By a Stranger

Author’s Note: This is a piece that shows that lessons are learned in the story Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes. I hope that you enjoy this piece as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

            Mistakes, we all make them. But few of us are able to recognize the wrong that we have done. In the story Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes, a young boy by the name of Roger decides to “attempt” to steal Mrs. Luetta Bates Jones’s purse.  This woman proceeds to scold the boy for his actions; she then escorted the boy home. She fed him and washed the dirt off his face. But little did Roger know just who he was stealing from, throughout the rest of the time they spent together Mrs. Luetta Bates Jones lectured the boy about the consequences of steeling. To make a long story short Roger left the woman with a full stomach, washed face, a very valuable lesson learned and ten dollars in his pocket for new suede shoes.

Throughout this experience Roger learns that even our smallest actions can have great effects on our lives. One example of this in this story is when Mrs. Luette Bates Jones first turns Roger loose and tells him to go wash his face. The story states “Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink.” This shows that Mrs. Luetta Bates Jones has gained the respect of the boy and taught him but another lesson in doing so. For this very reason I prove that Roger learns valuable skills, to reference back to later in life.

Roger learned to never steel from anyone ever again. Without the help of Mrs. Luetta Bates Jones, who knows what would have happened to Roger. This story has taught me that sometimes even the smallest actions can have the greatest effects on our lives.  Roger was truly touched by a stranger.