Summary

The short story “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes presents a night encounter between a black woman called Luella Bates Washington Jones and a boy of fifteen called Roger.

At about eleven o’clock at night, the boy attacks the woman with the purpose of stealing her purse, but he is taken by surprize by the weight of the purse and loses his balance. The woman, evidently very strong, grabs him tightly and begins questioning him. She expresses her wish to take the boy home, wash his face and teach him the difference between right and wrong, just as she would do with her own son. The woman grabs the boy and drags him on the street until she reaches her house.

Once home, the woman makes the boy wash his face and make himself presentable. He tells her that his ...