Christopher Villanueva
Mrs. Mayer
English Honors
31 October 2013
Character characterization in a story is an important part of the story. It makes us feel for the characters and understand the background of them, making it easier for us to understand why they did what they did. In the story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, we see very little background from the characters and through the actions they do we see what kind of person they are. Most importantly however we see the kind of person they are through dialogue.
In the story we are introduced into Mrs. Luella Bates Washington, and a boy Roger. Roger had been stopped by Mrs. Jones from stealing her purse, and in punishment took Roger home to teach him a lesson. Through this action we see that Mrs. Jones already come out as a strong individual woman who would refuse to take anything bad even from a young boy like Roger. We also see a sort of compassion from her, due to the fact that she didn’t give Roger to the police and instead decided to try and care for him. Later we see them walking down the street and them conversing, “ “ If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman “ Yes’m” said the boy. “ Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him. “I’m very sorry, lady I’m sorry” whispered the boy. “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. No’m,” said the boy. “Then it will get washed this evening” said the large woman staring up the street, dragging the frightened boy behind her. ” Here we see a great example of how the author doesn’t need to show us the entire background of the characters and instead we can figure out. Mrs. Jones acting the way she does is most likely a large black woman, who cares for people more than herself. Also the way she speaks most likely shows that she is from the down south. As for Roger he is most likely a young boy living poorly. Through the...