Literary Criticism of Thank you Maa'm (Book Review Sample)

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Introduction
Langston Hughes book written in 1958, ‘’Thank you ma’am’’ is set in Harlem new York during a time that New York experienced rapid population growth. It explores the effects of kindness and trust. A young boy snatches a purse from an elderly woman, but unluckily he fails to take off and is captured by the woman who holds her by the throat. He expects the woman to call the police but the woman offers to take him home, clean him up, feed him, and eventually she offers him money to buy what he wanted. The motive of the boy was to snatch the purse and run not knowing what was in it. The woman later tells him that all he could have done was ask.
Philosophical Approach
The story presents a life in society where people are willing to forgive and help even after being offended. Mrs. Jones does the unexpected by showing kindness to a boy who not only is a stranger but also tried to snatch her purse. It points out that no matter the circumstance people should be given time to explain their story before they are judged. She brings out the morals that most of the time society ignores. She has a past that she is not proud of her but chooses and this pushes her to show Roger ways in which he can do the right thing.
Mankind has different relationships with God. Mrs. Jones appears to know something about God as she tells the boy, ‘’I have done things, too, which I would not tell you son-neither tell God, if he already didn’t know’’. She appears to know God but she is not ready to repent or tell God about her past and things she might have done
The story’s moral as depicted through the actions of Mrs. Jones and Roger is both explicit and implicit. Mrs. Jones tries to teach Roger ways in which he can become morally upright, and explains to him that she had done bad things but in her past. She is trying to tell Roger that no matter how many bad things he has done, he can always change and be morally upright.
The author appears to be keen on repentance though he lets his characters be depicted as immoral people. But he is quick to let the reader know that one can be a very bad person and change to become morally upright. He depicts God as someone supernatural who already knows before they are asked. The author is not religious but he knows God and through Mrs. Jones he tells the writer the importance of repentance.
Langston believes that good and evil are not miles apart. By explaining the crime and making the reader understand that it was out of necessity that roger wanted to steal form Mrs. Jones. He is trying to make us understand that Roger is not really a bad boy but he is only trapped in a very difficult situation.
The author identifies situations where good and evil conflict. Mrs. Jones tries to be good to a boy who had stolen from him. It is human nature that the boy would have been punished or taken to the police. Mrs. Jones takes it to herself to teach the boy the goodness of being honest. She even puts a suggestion to her that she could have asked for the money. S...