Joanna Macy once said, “If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear.” As we continue to face the obstacles of hatred and division in our modern day society, it’s important to develop compassion to strive towards a better life that benefits those around us as well as ourselves. Reading through the short stories “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, “Thank You Ma’am”, and “Cathedral” we experience and view the value of compassion in a variety of different perspectives which help us understand the importance of compassion in our daily lives.
Often times, we encounter conflict with one another because we do not act with kindness
There are countless positives of compassion and we can see numerous examples in the short story “Thank You Ma’am”.After bringing home Roger to clean him up because she understands his suffering, Mrs. Jones says, “Eat some more, son...take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes” (Hughes 4). This gracious acts not only brings joy to Roger but also brings great pleasure to Mrs. Jones as well. Based on the information that Raymond Carter gives us in the story, we can likely conclude that Mrs. Jones lives a lonely life without the presence of any children or family. Even though the word “son” that the author uses in the story is a word many people use to describe a little boy and not literally their son, it can be used both literally and figuratively in this story. By showing compassion towards Roger, she finds happiness in being able to care for Roger if he was her very own child. When we take a look at Roger, he is a shy little boy, that lives a poor and lonely lifestyle. He tries to steal Mrs. Jones’ bag to be able to feed and clothe himself. His encounter with Mrs. Jones completely changes his life emotionally because he is able to meet someone who understands his emotions and is able to help him learn life lessons about overcoming poverty. Her generosity leaves him speechless ending the story with his soft words “Thank You Ma’am” (Hughes 4). If we are able to understand the advantages that compassion brings to us, we can be able to find peace and joy in our simple but caring acts of compassion on a day to day basis. When we are in situations where we are tempted to act in violence and hatred, we must look out the benefits of compassion which will enable us to limit the hate that we see in our world