Too Very Thoughtful (a book review of Thank You Ma'am) by Sarvessh Senthamarai Kannan

 Too Very Thoughtful

Imagine being so thoughtful that you even invite a pick-pocket who tried to steal your purse for dinner? This is a perfect resemblance of Ms.Luella Bates Washington Jones in the meaningful story called Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes. In the story, Ms.Luella is casually walking to her house when a rather dirty and poor boy tries to steal her pocket-book. Instead of sending him to jail or punishing him for purposely stealing, she realizes his family situation and takes him home to take care of.

Considering this impeccable and rare deed, Ms.Luella is an extremely thoughtful person because she is considerate, open-minded, and attentive. To start off, Ms.Luella is very thoughtful because she is very considerate. It is not very often that a person invites a suspicious and vulnerable person over to dinner let alone when they are trying to steal from them. However, Ms.Luella recognized that Roger, a poor boy, had no money, food nor proper sneakers. She deeply understood his financial status even though his actions were far from justified. In the story Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page two paragraph seven it states, “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 starting up the street, dragging the frightened boy behind her. He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans.” This proves that even though the boy looked suspicious and very suitable for a dark-hearted person, Ms.Luella took time to understand his situation physically and clean him up at her house. To explain further, Ms.Luella didn’t have to take the boy in to wash his face and take care of him. Even though the boy had attempted to commit theft of her pocket book, her thoughtful and considerate exposure made her take him under her wing. To add on, in the story Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page two paragraph eleven it explains, “The woman said, "You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?" "No, said the dragging boy. I just want you to turn me loose" This implies that Ms.Luella is looking to help the boy and teach him the right way of life even though she knows it is not required of her. She even goes as far as asking him if he wants any particular things. To delve deeper, this shows her thoughtfulness and willingness to help others even if they are not the most convincing physically. That thoughtfulness exposes her very considerate mentality, open to always help others.

To summarize, because of the fact that Ms.Luella deeply considered Roger’s situation before criticizing him for his non-justified actions, Ms.Luella is a very thoughtful person because she is considerate of her options. Also, Ms.Luella is very thoughtful because she is very open-minded. As shown with her situation with Roger, she is always willing to listen to what others have to say. She knows exactly how important another person’s point of view is in order to come to a correct and reliable decision. In the story Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page three into four it states, “Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere, said the woman. Here I am trying to get home to cook me a bite to eat and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe, you ain’t been to your supper either, late as it be. Have you?" "There’s nobody home at my house; said the boy." "Then we’ll eat; said the woman, I believe you’re hungry—or been hungry—to try to snatch my pocketbook." "I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes; said the boy” 

This shows how patient and open-minded Ms.Luella is. Even with the fact that she knows this boy is unpredictable with his actions, she still takes the risk of letting him speak his heart out and justify his actions. This helps her determine a person’s character and intentions. To further clarify, Ms.Luella is risking her own property just to make sure that  poor and dirty Roger can live a better life under better circumstances. If she hadn’t taken that risk, it is possible maybe Roger would not turn out as a better person. Also coming from the story Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page four paragraph one, it states, "Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes said Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. You could have asked me." " The water dripping from his face, the boy looked at her. There was a long pause. A very long pause. After he had dried his face and not knowing what else to do dried it again, the boy turned around, wondering what next. The door was open. He could make a dash for it down the hall. He could run, run, run, run, run! The woman was sitting on the day-bed." "After a while she said, I was young once and I wanted things I could not get." " There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened. Then he frowned, but not knowing he frowned.” This again shows Ms.Luella’s open-minded attitude. Even with the liability that this boy may do something bad, she voluntarily tries to fix the boy’s attitude with a kind and helping heart. To dive deeper, the action that Ms.Luella has taken is for sure a rare one, it is not likely that you see a middle-class person reacting in such a way that it even makes the thief cry and regret his wrongful actions. If not for Ms.Luella’s open-mindness, she would have never been able to understand Roger’s situation behind his dramatic actions. All in all, Ms.Luella’s kind actions towards Roger illuminates her heart and mind full of open-mindness.

Lastly, in Ms.Luella heart full of positive attitudes, she is also thoughtful because she is attentive. If she didn’t realize that Roger was in poverty, her thought process and attitude towards him may have been the complete opposite of what actually happened. In the story called Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page two paragraph seven it states, “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.” This means that Ms.Luella has noticed the boy's physical appearance. Not only has she noticed it, she used it to analyze the fact that he might not be financially stable and may not have a complete family to take care of him. Using this reliable and important piece of evidence, she changes her attitude towards the boy from questioning to understanding. To clarify, the only reason Ms.Luella changed her attitude towards Roger was because of her attentiveness. If she had not noticed his dirty face, she most likely would not have realized the type of person she was dealing with. However, because she carefully analyzed the situation with patience and attentiveness she was able to fully understand what was happening. Also, in the story Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes on page two paragraph ten it explains, “He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans. The woman said, "You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?" This insists that Ms.Luella has noticed Roger’s rather out of order clothes. The fact that she even considered this is exceptional but the fact that she used it to determine his status and character is top notch attentiveness. To explain, the normal human brain thinks in small pieces, it breaks apart pieces of information to help it understand the situation in more context. However, Ms.Luella has barely used any time and yet she has analyzed Roger’s real inner character and intentions to uncover why he has attempted theft. To summarize, because Ms.Luella is so thoughtful because she is attentive towards others’ actions and intentions along with their physical appearance, one thing is for sure, she would make an exceptional detective.

To conclude, even though Roger may have looked like the classic inconsiderate pick-pocket to the normal person’s eye, because Ms.Luella is so thoughtful because she is considerate, open-minded, and attentive, she is able to completely deconstruct and analyze a person’s character and real intention behind an suspicious action. For sure she would make great friends with Sherlock Holmes.