Who is Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones? The Analysis Essay Example on a Character

Many characteristics define who a person is. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, a major character in the story “Thank you Ma’am” by Langston Hughes shows that many characteristics define her. In the story  ”Thank you Ma’am”, A kid named roger tries to snatch Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones purse, but in the end, Roger gets caught by a woman he described as “She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in but hammer and nails”( Hughes 1). He was talking about Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones who takes Roger to her house to teach him a lesson instead of calling the cop. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has been shown to be a caring, sympathetic, and regretful person throughout “Thank you, Ma’am”. 

One characteristic that defined Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was she was a caring person. Even though Roger tried to rob her, she helps him out. She let him into her home, wash his face, gave him food to eat and, “Know, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes” ( 3). After talking to the roger about what his reasoning behind his actions was, she gave him some money so he can get what he wants. This shows that she moved to pass the fact that he tried to steal from her and help out a boy in need. She cared for Roger and what he wanted. When Roger said that there was nobody at his home, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones replied:” then we will eat”(2). This shows that she is kind because she helps feed Roger regardless of his action and who he was. They say sharing is caring and Mrs. 

Luella Bates Washington Jones takes care of Roger even though he is a stranger to her. This was a very kind action on her part. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has shown she was a caring person. The normal action for when someone tries to steal, people normally call 911. When the roger asked, “You gonna take me to jail”(2). She said “not with that face, I would not take you anywhere”(2). This shows that she cares for  Roger because even though she was a stranger she wanted to help him instead of giving him to the authorities. She cared about what happened to him and helped him out. That really takes a loving and caring heart. This was just one characteristic that Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones showed throughout the story.  

Another characteristic that defines Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is being a regretful person. She shows that she was a regretful person multiple times throughout ”Thank you Ma’am”. This is first shown when Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was talking to Roger about how she desired things when she was little too. She says ” I have done things too, which I would not tell you, son-neither tell God, if he already did not know”(3). This shows that she is a regretful person because she knows what she has done, and the phrase I would not tell you shows that she regrets whatever she has done. She also says “I was young once and I wanted things I could not get”(2).The tone and time this phrase was said to show that she was a regretful person. The phrase shows that she tries to get what she wants and the phrase shows that she regrets whatever she did. You try to get the thing that she desired. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones shows that she regrets whatever she has done. This is another characteristic that defines her 

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has been shown to also be a sympathetic person throughout” Thank you Ma’am”. This showed when she was talking to Roger about what he wanted. She says to Roger, “I was young once and I wanted things I could not get,” (2). This phrase shows that she is a sympathetic person because she could relate to what Roger wanted. Roger tried to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’s purse so he could get some blue suede shoes. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones understood where Roger was coming from and could be sympathetic with Roger. “Know, here, take these ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes'' (3). 

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones knew why Roger did what he did. She said the phrase I could count not get. Since Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones understood what Roger was going through so she gave him the 10 bucks to get what he wanted. When she was telling Roger that she wanted stuff too and says” You thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks' ' (2). She says' ' I have done things too, which I would not tell you, son-neither tell God, if he already did not know” (3). This phrase shows that she knows she has done the thing she regrets and does not want Roger to regret his past and not go down the path she went. She could sympathize with what Roger is going through and wanting to help him. This shows that she is a kind and sympathetic person. This was another characteristic that defined her. 

All this characteristic defines who Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was throughout “Thank you Ma’am”. She was a sympathetic, caring, and regretful person, as it was demonstrated multiple times throughout the story. Now we know who Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is. So, what would you do if Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was dragging you by the shirt to her home.