Summary
Narrated by an unnamed third-person limited omniscient narrator, “Thank You Ma’am” opens with the story’s protagonist, a teenage boy named Roger, attempting to steal the purse of Mrs. Jones, the antagonist.
Mrs. Jones is a large woman with a large purse containing many things. At eleven o’clock at night on a street in an unspecified city, Mrs. Jones is walking alone when Roger runs up behind her and grabs the purse.
The strap breaks when he tugs the purse, but the weight of the purse makes him lose balance. He falls on the sidewalk. The attempted robbery does not frighten Mrs. Jones: she turns around and kicks Roger in the bottom.
Mrs. Jones picks Roger up by the front of his shirt and shakes him until his teeth rattle. She commands Roger to pick up her purse and return it to her, continuing to hold him but giving him enough slack to bend down to lift the purse.
She asks if he is ashamed of himself, and Roger says that he is. She asks why he did it and Roger says he “didn’t aim to.” Mrs. Jones accuses him of lying. Passersby stop to watch the scene unfolding.
Mrs. Jones asks Roger if she lets him go if he will try to run away. Roger politely responds that he will. Mrs. Jones says she won’t turn him loose then, and she continued to grasp his shirt.
Roger whispers that he is very sorry. Mrs. Jones expresses disbelief and mild outrage. She says that his face is dirty, and she thinks she should wash it for him. She asks if he has anybody at home to tell him to wash his face.
Roger says that he does not. Mrs. Jones says that in that case she will wash his face that evening. She walks up the street, dragging the frightened Roger behind her.
The narrator comments that Roger looks as though he is fourteen or fifteen. He is frail and willowy, and wears tennis shoes and blue jeans. While dragging him, Mrs. Jones tells Roger that if he were her son, she would teach him right from wrong. The least she can do is wash his face.
Mrs. Jones asks if he is hungry. Roger replies that he isn’t hungry. He says he just wants her to let him go. Mrs. Jones ignores Roger’s request that she turn him loose.
Analysis
In the opening scene of the story, Langston Hughes establishes the comical tone of “Thank You Ma’am” by describing Roger's almost cartoonish failure to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse. Although Mrs. Jones’s large size and seeming vulnerability as a woman walking alone at night makes her appear to be an ideal target for theft, Roger discovers that Mrs. Jones’s purse is so heavy that he can’t snatch it without falling over.
In the first of what will be many instances of situational irony in the story, Roger winds up on the ground with Mrs. Jones standing over him, not at all frightened by the would-be thief. More than anything, Mrs. Jones is incensed by the undignified position of having her purse on the ground. To rectify the situation and save face while teaching the boy a lesson, she grabs Roger by the shirt and lowers him to the ground, making him lift the purse up for her.
The thematic preoccupation with dignity continues when Mrs. Jones asks Roger if he is ashamed of himself. Completely at the mercy of this overpowering woman, he politely admits that he is ashamed. The same politeness turns comical when Roger admits he will try to run away if Mrs. Jones releases her grip on his shirt. It is only then that Roger apologizes for his crime.
Realizing that she is dealing with a weak and frightened boy and not a hardened criminal, Mrs. Jones addresses Roger with familiarity, speaking to him as though he were her own child. The theme of dignity arises again when she notices that his face is dirty and scolds him because of it. In this instance of situational irony, Mrs. Jones treats having an unwashed face as though it is a worse crime than attempting to steal her purse.
Mrs. Jones's actions continue to build situational irony, as she decides to drag Roger home to teach him how to wash his face. While Roger is unaware of what she is doing with him, Mrs. Jones asks the boy if he is hungry. He doesn’t trust the woman enough to answer honestly the first time she asks, and repeats that he simply wants to be turned loose. Roger does not realize that Mrs. Jones asks if he is hungry out of genuine concern for him. This moment subtly introduces the theme of generosity, which will only become more relevant as the story progresses.
