A Hard Steal
Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones walks home at 11 p.m. from her job at a hotel beauty shop. On her shoulder, Luella carries a very large and heavy purse, which has everything in it “but hammer and nails.” Suddenly, a young boy (probably 14 or 15 ) shoots past her, grabbing her purse as he goes.Unfortunately for the boy, he doesn’t expect the purse to be so heavy. So, instead of successfully snatching it and running, he feels the purse pull him backward and he falls flat on his back. Luella instantly descends upon the fearful youth, first kicking him, then pulling him up by the front of his shirt and shaking him fiercely.
She demands that he pick up her purse and pocketbook, which he does with her hand still gripping his shirt. She scolds him and asks: “What did you want to do it for?” The boy replies that he didn’t mean to steal her purse. “You a lie!” She says.
Luella refuses to let him go and, when she sees his dirty face, she decides that she will take him home and wash him. She drags him up the street to her home and, when he struggles to break free, she puts him in a half-nelson and continues dragging him up the street.
Transformative Kindness
Luella pulls the young boy into her home, which consists of herself and other boarders, and leads him into the kitchen. She asks him his name and he replies “Roger.” “Then, Roger,” she says, “you go to that sink and wash your face.”Roger bends over the sink and washes his face in warm water. Luella says: “I believe you’re hungry—or been hungry—to try to snatch my pocketbook.” Roger confesses that all he wanted was a pair of blue suede shoes. Luella reprimands him, saying that he didn’t need to steal her purse. All he needed to do was ask her for some money.
Roger feels bewildered at her statement, but she explains: “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.” With this explanation hanging in the air, she prepares them both dinner.
They eat dinner together, Luella chatting all the while about her job. Yet, even though she hasn’t promised to let him go, Roger already seems changed.
Through this story, Hughes shows what a little bit of kindness and love can do for someone, especially someone young, who is in need. He illustrates what R.J. Palacio wrote in “Wonder”: “Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”
Genuine kindness, which sees the value of a person behind their wrongdoing, is transformative. It enables both the giver and receiver to achieve a greatness that transcends the norms and hindrances of everyday human feeling. Kindness is a belief that attains the impossible and achieves the beautiful.
