“He could make a dash for it down the hall. He could run, run, run, run, run!”-Where do these lines occur? Who is the speaker? Who is he’? Why didn’t he run?

These lines occur in Langston Hughes short story ‘Thank You Ma’am’.

Here, the speaker is Langston Hughes. 

In the lines quoted above Roger, the boy who tried to snatch Mrs Jones purse is referred to as ‘he’. 

Roger could have run away from the house as the door was open but he did not. Roger did not want to break Mrs Jones’ trust. After catching Roger red-handed Mrs Jones could have handed him over to the police but instead of doing so, she tried to teach him a lesson through love and care that would help him understand the difference between right and wrong. Therefore Roger also reciprocated respect and trust towards Mrs Jones and did not run away from the house.

“I have done things, too,”—Who said this to whom? What do you think the speaker has done? Why did the speaker say this to the listener?

Mrs Jones said this to Roger. Mrs Jones, by saying this, could have only meant that once she had also fallen prey to temptation and had perhaps taken resort to dishonest means to acquire the things she had wanted but could not afford.

She said the line mentioned above to Roger to assure him that it is possible for a sinner to transform himself. Hence Roger should follow the same path and reform himself to become an honest and hardworking person.