Family, Community, and Home Theme Analysis

“Thank You, M’am” narrates the events of one night for Roger, a young boy, and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, the older woman he attempts to rob. Rather than reporting Roger to the police or take other legal action, Mrs. Jones offers the boy motherly guidance and a temporary home. Her unexpected choice can be read through the historical background of the story’s implied setting: Hughes was a central figure in the early twentieth century’s “Harlem Renaissance,” a period during which the famed New York City neighborhood was associated with innovation in the arts and with a changing urban landscape. The city’s rapid growth, like many urban areas during this era, led to changes in the construction of the neighborhood, and though Hughes doesn’t explicitly state where his story is set, the boarding house with many “roomers” where Mrs. Jones lives evokes the many single-family Harlem houses that were converted into multi-person dwellings at this time. Despite the implication that Mrs. Jones lacks her own family and traditional home, she nevertheless offers Roger qualities of both—and in doing so forges a meaningful connection with the “frail and willow-wild” teenaged-boy. By displaying the pain of solitude as it affects two different members of a neighborhood, Hughes underscores the importance of community. What’s more, the unexpected yet comforting bond between Roger and Mrs. Jones suggests that family and home are flexible concepts, things that people may define and create for themselves.

At first, Hughes’s description of his characters makes it seem like they are essentially different—if Mrs. Jones is large, solid, and certain of her opinions, Roger is frail and equivocal. Yet they are both alike in that they are basically alone. Mrs. Jones’s late-night job and living situation—she is one of many “roomers” in a boarding house—hints at her present lack of family. Moreover, her three surnames suggest that she has been married at least twice. Nevertheless, these missing spouses or family members are absent from the story—either by direct mention or description. Roger is also clearly on his own. For one thing, he is wandering unsupervised the streets at eleven o’clock at night when he runs into Mrs. Jones—an indication that no one is watching over him. This is confirmed when Mrs. Jones asks Roger if he’s eaten and he replies, “There’s nobody home at my house.” Roger again answers in the negative when Mrs. Jones asks him, “Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” Clearly, Roger has neither a true home nor family members to care for him. However different they might appear, then, Mrs. Jones and Roger’s shared lack of family ties them together.

The story further implies the pain of solitude and suggests that both characters long for a sense of connection; their meeting is thus valuable not only for Roger, but also for the woman who takes him in. The narrator diagnoses Roger’s likely shame about his dysfunctional home life while recapping their conversation over a meal: “the woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him.” The fact that Mrs. Jones eagerly steps in suggests her own desire for family. After catching Roger when he first tries to steal her purse, she declares, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong.” She goes on to insist that Roger wash his face and eat his supper, things a mother would typically do for her child. This establishes her belief in her own potential as a guardian as well as the value of family to set young people on the right path in life. This seems to be an apt assumption: as Mrs. Jones essentially mothers Roger, the boy feels a desire to be helpful and trustworthy to please her. He steps into the role of child just as quickly as she steps into that of mother, creating a sense of family and home that proves powerful even if it is only temporary.

Of course, the story ultimately leaves the problems of home and family as unresolved: Roger leaves after supper, instructed by Mrs. Jones simply to “behave” himself. When they separate at the end of the evening, two people, together for a short time by happenstance, are once again on their own. Yet it’s clear that Roger now steps into the world better off than he was before. Clean, full, and with money for a smart pair of blue suede shoes, it is very possible that Mrs. Jones has indeed set her “child” up for a brighter future. His gratitude toward Mrs. Jones—a simple assertion that titles the story itself—suggests his transition from desperate thief to capable young man. The story thus implies that the ultimate value of family, community, and home lies, rather ironically, in preparing people to fend for themselves.