Thank You M'Am Second Chances

“Thank You M’am” is written by Langston Hughes. This is a story about a young boy who lives in the streets who comes across a woman who will teach him a life lesson and gives him a second chance indirectly. They both cross paths in a very abnormal way. The boy (Roger) tries to snatch a woman’s purse, (Mrs. Jones) when she is confronted by him, she takes charge of the situation. Mrs. Jones takes Roger in, not by his will, but out of love and hope for children. Mrs. Jones feeds him and washes him up in spite of him trying to steal her purse.

The theme of the story is how many people are given second chances. The story tells us about Roger who looks dirty and frail in the quest for a pair of shoes. “He looked as if he were fourteen of fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans.” There is not anyone care for him. Then there is Mrs. Jones, who takes Roger in to be sure he is clean and fed. This shows that at any time we can be given second chances even if we are in the mist of wrong doing. Mrs. Jones, instead of turning him in to the police takes him in and gives him some desperately needed care and attention. “You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink. “Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,” said the woman.” Mrs. Jones could have easily taken him to the police and started his rap sheet but she could see herself in him that’s why she gives him this opportunity. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son – neither tell God, if He didn’t already know. Everybody’s got something in common.” So Mrs. Jones wanted to give him the same chance that someone once gave her. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is a symbol of those second chances we all get. Even if the second chances are crammed down our throat it’s up to us if we take advantage of them. That’s why the story ends as Roger “turned at the foot of the barren stoop and looked up at the large woman in the door. Then she