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“You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink. 
“Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,” said the woman.

This exchange occurs in the middle of the story, when Mrs. Jones brings Roger into her room. Her first act upon arrival is to send him to the sink to wash his face, which demonstrates the value she places on dignity. One of the first things Mrs. Jones remarks on when she captures Roger is how dirty his face is. When she learns that there is no one at home to tell him to wash, she announces that she will get his face washed herself. A moment later, she declares that Roger ought to be her son, so that she could teach him right from wrong. This juxtaposition links self-presentation to the dignity Mrs. Jones exudes. In this exchange, rather than respond to Roger’s genuine anxiety that she may bring him to the police, she instead uses his question as an opportunity to emphasize the value of being presentable in public, an example of the maternal care she shows him throughout the story and of teaching him how to live well.

The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish.

During their time together, Mrs. Jones balances maternal correction of Roger’s behavior with careful and compassionate attention to his sense of dignity. Rather than ask him for details about a life that may include poverty and neglect, she instead tells him about her life, sparing him the potential embarrassment of disclosing information he would prefer to keep private. Her conversation also provides Roger with a model of a good, dignified life. Showing Roger how to live well while at the same time carefully avoiding exposure of the shortcomings of his own life is an example of the kind of maternal education Mrs. Jones sets out to give Roger during their evening together.

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