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“But you put yourself in contact with me,” said the woman. “If you think that that contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming. When I get through with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”

Mrs. Jones makes this pronouncement early in the story after she captures Roger and he asks her to let him go. This moment illustrates Mrs. Jones’s determination and strength of character. At the opening of the story, Roger puts himself in contact with Mrs. Jones by attempting to steal her purse. This moment definitively establishes that Mrs. Jones has taken control, and the rest of the story unfolds according to her plans. This passage also foreshadows the unusual and memorable qualities of the supper that follows. Indeed, by the end of the story, it seems certain that Mrs. Jones has succeeded in making an indelible impression on Roger. However, while the passage here has an ominous and threatening quality, the events that follow depict a generosity and compassion that make Mrs. Jones both memorable and admirable.

I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn’t already know. So you set down while I fix us something to eat. You might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable.

This passage occurs in the middle of the story after Roger admits to Mrs. Jones that he tried to steal her purse to buy a pair of blue suede shoes. Roger is shocked that Mrs. Jones doesn’t tell him that she never tried to steal. This moment marks a change in how Mrs. Jones is presented, as well as a change in how Roger sees her. Until this revelation, Mrs. Jones seems solidly dependable and respectable. This exchange introduces the idea that even respectable people may have pasts they are not proud of and that it is possible to grow and change, as Mrs. Jones has, reinforcing the main idea in the story that bad deeds do not define a person’s character.

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