Mrs. Jones, the pivotal character in ‘Thank You Ma’am’, a famous short story by Langston Hughes, at first appeared to be a stern lady. She was strong and quite alert. She quickly reacted to the act of snatching her purse. She kicked the boy, caught hold of him by his shirt, shook him violently and almost dragged him to her home. But later we see that Mrs. Jones was an extremely kind-hearted lady. She was affectionate to the young boy in spite of his mischief. She took the boy home to wash his dirty face, but actually she wanted to purify him of his sins. She knew that poverty is the reason of almost all sins and the pain of hunger is the strongest. That is why she gave food to the boy and ten dollars to buy his coveted suede shoes. The boy was moved by her kindness and got changed into a new person. Thus Mrs. Jones was apparently harsh in her behaviour but actually she was a warm hearted character.
