What Tenderness Can Do

Introduction: Does an act of kindness ever go unrewarded? No it doesn’t. To hear the phrase “Thank you” is enough for some people. Tenderness can really change a person. Roger was a confused boy, who didn’t know right from wrong until he met Mrs. Jones. She gave him tenderness, love, and care; things he wasn’t used to. At first he wanted to leave Mrs. Jones, then he was reluctant about leaving, and finally he didn’t want to leave. Roger was a changed young man and he didn’t even know it.


At the beginning, all Roger wanted to do was take the easy way out.”No’m”, said the being dragged boy. ‘I just want you to turn me loose.Pg1”. This quote represents how all Roger wants to do is leave. He doesn’t want to face the consequences of his actions. Instead of Roger working for a pair of blue suede shoes, he tries to steal money to buy them from Mrs. Jones. That night, Roger chose to take the easy way out. He doesn’t want to go anywhere with Mrs. Jones. All Roger has in his life is trouble, and why should he add to that. He has no family, no love in his life, and he doesn’t want to add to all that misery. Going to jail will be the absolute worst for him, no one understands him. The mere thought of adding more emptiness to his life was frightening, and all he wanted to do was take off. At least his old life would be a better life than the one in jail. He thought stealing a purse would be the easiest thing in the world, easier than working, but to his surprise he could no longer run away from his actions. He was stuck with Mrs. Jones.

A change in Roger’s character develops; he starts liking to stay with Mrs. Jones. “Roger looked at the door-looked at the woman –looked at the door-and went to the sink. Pg 2. ” As you can tell by reading the excerpt, Roger starts to develop a change; he is starting to like it there. Sure, he is still scared of her, he doesn’t know her that well and is scared of what a strong woman like Mrs. Jones could do to him. He doesn’t know that he wants to stay consciously but deep down in his heart he likes the fact that someone is caring for him. He comes from a broken home, and when he tries to steal a woman’s purse, she takes him in. She doesn’t take him into punish him, or even to report him to the police, but to feed and wash him. That is the average response from a woman who has just been robbed. He is wondering,”Why is she so nice to me; I tried to steal her purse.” He probably didn’t eat a home cooked meal in a long time, and probably had no one to talk to. Out of the blue comes this truly unique individual who starts to talk about herself and her past life. No one is ever nice to him, and Roger won’t admit it, but he actually starts to like it there.

A final change in Roger’s character develops; he doesn’t want to leave such a warm and loving home.”The boy wanted to say something else other than ‘Thank you ma’aam’ to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked at the large woman in the door.pg 3”.Roger doesn’t want to leave the only good thing that has happened to him in a long time. The environment in which Mrs. Jones lived in was such a warm environment, and he would be a fool to leave all that. But he didn’t, Mrs. Jones was the one eager for him to leave at the end. Isn’t it ironic, how at the beginning all Roger wants to do is leave, but Mrs. Jones is so eager to take him home with her? And at the end, when Roger wants to stay, she is eager for him to leave? He wanted to say something more to her, like: “How can I ever repay you?”,”Why are you doing all this?, and “Can I visit you again?”But she doesn’t want to start a relationship with him; she has taught him right from wrong and wanted him to succeed on his own. She shut the door just like that, and he had to face his empty life again. The life where he had no family, food Roger, etc. He had found something so good in that home, and that was Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, the woman who touched him deeply; the woman he would never forget it.

Conclusion: Roger left Mrs. Jones’s porch leaving something behind. He left behind his past life.; a life with stealing, no love and no work. Mrs. Jones’s tenderness really did change Roger’s life. Maybe Roger doesn’t know that yet, but he will start acting differently in his life because of Mrs. Jones’s influence on him. No one what will happen to our dear friend Roger, but he will never go back to his past life, that is guaranteed.

Samar Al ANSARI
GRADE 9.2
2003