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Situational Irony
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Hughes’s writing style in “Thank You, M’am” combines simple and direct narration with dialogue between the characters written in a Harlem dialect. Though Hughes was known for being a poet, his writing style in “Thank You, M’am” does not include much lyrical prose. Apart from a few figurative phrases (such as describing Roger as “frail and willow-wild”), the narrator mainly describes the characters’ movements and conversations in a literal and direct manner.
One of the only stylistic flourishes in the story is the fact that there are a few moments when Hughes italicizes a word or phrase in order to draw readers’ attention to a particular action. Take the following passage, for example, which comes after Mrs. Jones has dragged Roger to her house to feed him:
She said, “What is your name?”
“Roger,” answered the boy.
“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon she turned him loose—at last. Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink.
The italics that Hughes uses at the end of this passage highlight for readers how significant Roger’s choice here is. Mrs. Jones has let him loose from her half-nelson and, though he has the opportunity to make a run for it (as seen in the way he looks back and forth from Mrs. Jones to the door), he chooses to stay and follow her orders to wash his face. This stylistic choice helps readers understand that this is not a small moment—Roger, for the first time in the story, makes a choice that leads to community and care (and ten dollars) rather than to suffering and isolation.
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