Choice vs. Circumstance Theme Analysis

“Thank You, M’am” demonstrates that individuals make better choices—and even become more upstanding, more moral people—when they are honest about their shortcomings and mistakes. A more stereotypical, less nuanced version of this story might have blamed or excused Roger’s attempted theft of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’s purse on his income, race, or class. Instead, through observing the series of decisions made by Roger and Mrs. Jones, Hughes’s story presents a more complex view of morality in which neither character is painted as all good or all bad. Mrs. Jones, drawing on her own mixed circumstances and past choices, recognizes the difficulties that Roger faces. She doesn’t let Roger off the hook for his attempted robbery, but creates a space for him to realize that hardship is no excuse for morally wrong behavior. Hughes thereby suggests that a nuanced understanding of circumstance and personal responsibility can provide individuals with much needed agency and autotomy.

For Hughes, any circumstantial hardships Roger has experienced do not excuse his choice toward stealing other’s possessions: the story clearly defines his initial choice as morally wrong behavior. To this end, it’s no coincidence that Roger’s specific background is never fully revealed. While it is heavily implied from the description of his appearance and his unsupervised evening activities that the young boy is poor and largely on his own, the story never provides enough detail for a reader to view him as merely the victim of his circumstances.

Crucially, Mrs. Jones offers Roger the opportunity to change his pattern of choices on his own by giving him ten dollars at the end of the story with which to buy the blue suede shoes he so covets. With this gift, she includes instruction that her choice should shape his subsequent decisions. One imagines that Mrs. Jones hopes that each time Roger looks at his stylish shoes he will not only feel the pride of ownership but also remember a lesson learned: “And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s — because shoes got by devilish ways will burn your feet,” Mrs. Jones tells him.

Mrs. Jones clearly doesn’t assume that simply because of their interaction Roger will never again have a desire that could get him in trouble. Rather, she offers him advice and recognizes he has to make his own decisions, mixing compassion with concern for Roger’s improvement. When Mrs. Jones gives Roger money, she effectively is reminding him that he possesses agency. By giving him money rather than buying him the shoes outright (or giving him nothing at all), Mrs. Jones places his decision-making back firmly in his control—implying that, whatever his circumstances, he has the power to make better choices.

Given his behavior throughout the story, it would not have been surprising had Mrs. Jones instead shown mistrust in Roger’s ability to make good decisions. Indeed, the narrator describes how Roger worries about this very issue: “He did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.” This phrase reveals how mistrust has characterized Roger’s choices up to this point—and suggests that when individuals assume that they will always be mistrusted, they often frame their decisions with this in mind. For Roger, each use of the word “trust” is couched in the negative, revealing how he doesn’t believe he can be trusted. This adds emotional weight to his behavior: if, as this seems to indicate, Roger assumes he is someone who cannot be trusted, he may simply be acting accordingly.

Yet, remarkably, despite the circumstances of their meeting, Mrs. Jones does not constantly watch the boy in her apartment, nor does she supervise his behavior after leaving with her money. Mrs. Jones’s actions are effective and a radical change from what Roger has experienced before, and Roger decides to prove himself worthy of her trust. Still surprised by this circumstance, places himself in Mrs. Jones’s sight and resolutely decides not to flee.

Roger’s future remains a matter of speculation because the story ends as he leaves Mrs. Jones’s home. Nevertheless, his acceptance of Mrs. Jones’s money and his gratitude suggests a genuine change how he interacts with his circumstances. Initially, Roger makes reactive decisions motivated by fear of punishment, such as when he lies or wants to run away from Mrs. Jones. Being granted the dignity and agency to make his own decisions is implied to have a positive effect, however; while he’s still learning this new style (as seen by his uncertainty about how to voice his gratitude), he seems to be, at the very least, moving in a more productive, healthy direction.

Hughes’s story honors both choice and circumstance, offering sympathy for Roger’s difficult background without excusing his criminal behavior. More broadly, given the social background in which Hughes wrote, the story could be read as arguing for the importance of refusing to use the oppressive status quo as an excuse for either misbehavior or overly harsh judgment of various communities. Read in this light, this story champions the power and importance of personal responsibility while also understanding that individual actions are almost never divorced from circumstance.