The storyline of the short story, ‘Thank You Ma’am’, by Langston Hughes is simple but forceful. It speaks of an elderly lady who catches a young boy trying to snatch her purse. But the lady, instead of informing the police takes the boy home and gives her food and money to satisfy his needs. Thus the positive and kind attitude of the lady transformed the boy into a new person. The moral of the story lies in its consequence of events. It shows how trust, understanding and fellow-feeling can rectify a person. The story also focuses on another aspect. Roger wanted to steal as he was poor. No one is born as a sinner and so one should hate the sin, not the sinner.
