Roger's Wake-up Call

In the short story "Yes Ma'am", Roger could have done many things with his life after the incident with Mrs. Jones. From where the story ended, you can come to a conclusion that his life was going to change. After attempting to steal Mrs. Jones’ purse, he paid a visit to her house. Then he left without getting a chance to say thank you. Now what would become of his life? Off to stealth again or realization of his actions?

            My prediction is that Roger can turn his life around. There is always a second chance for people and maybe he would take it. He could do this because of the fact that while he was in Mrs. Jones’ house, he started feeling guilty. The door was wide open and he could have scampered out at any time, but he stayed put like a heavy rock super glued to the ground. This shows that people can change. At the end of the movie The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Grinch stole all of the colorful presents and sparkling decorations from the little Who’s in Whoville. As the end of the movie approached, the Grinch’s heart changed and he returned all of the presents to the Who’s. This shows that there is kindness in everyone. Even the bad can turn good.

            On the other hand, there is always a slight chance that Roger will go back to stealing. Another prediction that I have is that Roger will go back to old times and not listen to any advice Mrs. Jones gave him. I think this way because when Roger was attempting to say thank you, he could have gotten angry with himself for not saying it. Also, Roger’s parents might be divorced and he might not have enough money to get food because he looked pretty hungry when he got taken to Mrs. Jones’ house. This reminds me of the movie Home Alone when the bad guys did terrible crimes and got put into jail to redeem themselves. It didn’t work because they went back to doing crimes again. This shows that some people just don’t want to change their ways.

            There are many people like Roger in this world. Some will do the right thing and some just simply won’t. What path would you take?