Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is a very powerful character in Langston Hughes' story, "Thank you, Ma'am" in the way that she shows many good traits. The first trait is that she is strict. She shows this by making Roger wash his face before he eats. Mrs. Jones also shows that she is strict by kicking Roger in his sitter and dragging him to her house in a half nelson. She is also generous. She shows this by giving Roger a meal. To Roger, a kid from the streets, this is huge. Another way she shows her generosity is by giving Roger money to buy his blue suede shoes. This, again, is huge to Roger because the whole reason he got into the situation with Mrs. Jones was trying to steal her pocketbook to get money for the shoes. The final trait