The short stories “Thank you M’am” by Lunstan Hughes and “All the Years of

her Life” by Morley Callaghan portray a female character attempting to teach troubled

youth moral values. While both Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Higgins deal with similar situations

their motives, dealing methods and personality traits make them drastically different.

Mrs. Jones chose to help the struggling child she encountered where as Mrs. Higgins had

to help out of obligation to her son. Mrs. Higgins is a very fragile character while Mrs.

Jones is an all around tuff character. Furthermore Mrs. Jones intentionally attempts to

teach the troubles child a lesson between right and wrong where Mrs. Higgins dose not

actively attempt to teach her son a lesson of any kind. Though both women attempt to

teach ethical Principles to the troubled adolescents, their different personalities make

them different. Both Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Higgins come in contact with a struggling teen; Mrs. Higgins was forced to help her son while Mrs. Jones chose to take on the challenge of teaching the boy a lesson. Mrs. Jones had no ties to Rodger but still chose to take him under her wing and teach him proper moral values even though she didn’t have too. When talking to Rodger Mrs. Jones confesses that she has “done things too” (Hughes, 168). Mrs. Jones being in the similar situation suggests that she sees a bit of her self in Rodger and she is trying to help him like no one did for her. Unlike Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Higgins was asked to come and help, forcing her to bail out Alfred. After Mr. Carr caught Alfred stealing, he called Mrs. Higgins telling her to “come down in a hurry” (Callaghan, 174). Being called down to the store to sort out what is to be done to her son places Mrs. Higgins in a position where she has no choice but to help him out. In addition a mother always wants what is best for their son and Mrs. Higgins would not sit a side and allow Alfred to get in serous trouble because she loves him. Since Mrs. Higgins had ties to the troubled teen and was actually asked to come down proves that the only reason she helped was because she felt that she had to. Along with their women’s different motive to help they contradicting personalities also make them different. Mr. Jones is a strong and ruff woman where Mrs. Higgins is very weak and worn down. Though in the beginning of the story Ms. Higgins puts on a fake act of a strong collected woman, Mr. Higgins is actually a very weak and fragile character. After they returned home Alfred watched her from the corner without her knowledge and “he knew all the years of her life by the way her hand trembled as she raised the cup” (Callaghan, 178). The way she struggled just to lift a cup to her lips expresses how much troll her children have given her and how worn down she is. In addition Alfred expressed that she had been crying a lot lately suggesting that she is weaker and has a harder time dealing with the problems of her daily life. Contrarily, Mrs. Jones is a very strong independent woman. After Rodger attempts to steal her purse she “put a nelson about his neck, and continued dragging him down the street.” (Hughes, 167). Though this would take physical strength it would also require emotional strength too. Most women in her position wouldn’t be brave or strong enough to take charge and grab Rodger like that proving that Mrs. Jones is a very strong character. Well both characters at one point are appeared to be strong only Mrs. Jones is consistent making them different. Along with the women’s contradicting personalities and their different

motivations to help, they have different approaches to dealing with the situation. Mrs.

Jones actively works to ensure that Rodger is taught proper moral values while Mrs.

Higgins dose not attempt to teach Alfred anything. Mrs. Jones outlines to Rodger exactly

what he did wrong so he is able to reflect on his actions. She clearly explains to Rodger

how he can improve his behave by telling him that he “could of asked”(168) for the

money. Now Rodger fully understands that there is better ways to get what he wants

and he is able to analyze his behavior and improve. In addition she gives Rodger some

money so he can buy the shoes without stealing to make sure he understands that there

was a better way of getting the shoes. On the contrary to Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Higgins dose

not discuss with her son what he did was wrong and how he can improve his actions.

After she bails Alfred out she tells him not to “speak to me”(Callaghan, 177) and to not

say “ a word about tonight to your father”(177). Mrs. Higgins refusal to talk about his

son’s actions and not telling the father allows Alfred to get off without any

consequences. Without his mother clearly expressing what he has done is wrong and to

help him to learn how to improve, Alfred will never learn. Since Alfred is never forced to

reflect on his mistakes because his mother neither punishes him nor discuss the

problem at hand, Alfred is stuck in a never-ending cycle. While both women hope for

the troubled adolescents they encounters behavior changes only Mrs. Jones attempts to

help the teen to improve on his actions making the women very different.

The short stories “Thank you M’am” by Lunstan Hughes and “All the Years of

her Life” by Morley Callaghan tell the story of two women who encounter a struggling

teenager. Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Higgins find themselves in similar situations but their

different techniques, motives and personality traits make the women very different. Well

both the women help the boys out; Mrs. Higgins was forced to help while Mrs. Jones did

out of the kindness of her heart. Mrs. Jones is an extremely strong character where Mrs.

Higgins is revealed to be incredibly weak. Mrs. Higgins dose not try to teach her son a

lesson and Mrs. Jones works hard to teach Rodger a lesson. Both women share the same

wishes for the two boys actions to improve the way they attempt to help and the reasons

why they do make the drastically different.