Skip to main content

In what way is Mrs. Jones tougher than Roger expects in "Thank You, M'am"?

We can infer that Roger, while executing his plan, expected a large woman like "Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones" to be no great sprinter, therefore unable to run after him once he had her purse in hand. We can infer that Roger did not expect to be kicked "right square in his blue-jeaned sitter" nor did he expect to be hauled to his feet by "his shirt front" and shaken "until his teeth rattled" (nor did he expect to land flat "on his back on the sidewalk"). We can infer that Roger expected a helpless woman, an easy-to-snatch long-strapped purse of normal weight (which hers was not as it had "everything in it but hammer and nails") and a "full blast" escape.


We can only infer what Roger expected about Mrs. Jones's toughness because the story begins with action in medias res, or in the middle of events that began while we were out of earshot, so to speak. Before the story even begins, Roger has thought over what resistance he expects, what toughness he expects, what he is going to do, whom he is going to target and how he is going to make his move, all this before he ever grabs the strap of Mrs. Jones's too-heavy shoulder-strap purse (if Roger acted impulsively on the spur of the moment, he would have no or many fewer expectations).


In the story's time-frame, Mrs. Jones turns out to be tougher than Roger expects by courageously turning the assault against Roger, by hanging relentlessly on to his shirt front and by forcing him to behave like a well-raised boy while he is in her company.



  “If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.
  “Yes’m,” said the boy.
  “Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.



Mrs. Jones also turns out to be tougher than Roger expects by making him wash his face and comb his hair, by making him eat some supper with her and by teaching him that even though someone does wrong, they have a chance in life to learn to do right. Being tougher than Roger could have earlier expected Mrs. Jones to be, she teaches him this by the anecdote she tells of her own life and by freely handing him the money for the shoes.



   The woman was sitting on the day-bed. After a while she said, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get. ... I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn’t already know.” ... When they were finished eating she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s .... But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.”


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more