What values do you learn from mrs. Jones
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he may have no parents; one or both may be in jail; they may be on drugs; or...they may both be working two or three jobs apiece to put food on the table for him. We know only that he's a young man on the streets alone at night and on his way to prison someday. Hughes connects the two for us: his empty home leaves him without a role model. Mrs. Jones--a stranger--steps in as that role model, and makes a difference. Thus, another lesson: we can make a difference in the lives of countless people ourselves by simply caring: perhaps if we didn't react through fear (in this case, Mrs. Jones could simply have called the police and been done with it, making him someone else's problem) and assumed responsibility for helping others ourselves, we could reduce the amount of pain (and crime) in the world.
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Perhaps what Langston Hughes was suggesting in "Thank You, Ma'am" is that the outcome for young men who commit crimes could be improved if adults were more invested in them and wanted to know the reasons that propelled them to prey on others.
Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is an extraordinary "average" woman; though not well-off herself, she does not succumb to the expected emotions of fear or anger after Roger tries to take her pocketbook. Mrs. Bates notices that Roger is neglected; his face is dirty, and he tells her that no one is at home. As a result, she feeds him and urges him to clean himself up. When she asks Roger why he needed money, he admits that he wanted some new shoes. Instead of expressing outrage or lecturing him, she gives him money for the shoes and simply tells him that he would not have been able to enjoy shoes that he had gotten as the result of stealing.
Because Mrs. Jones meets Roger with compassion and understanding (instead of the desire to see him punished), readers are encouraged to think about the impact a single person can make in the life of a young person at risk of becoming a hardened criminal or worse.