There is textual evidence that Mrs. Jones is no longer married, works late at a beauty parlor, and made some bad decisions herself at some point in her life.
We know that Mrs. Jones works until late at night, because most people would not be walking home when it’s almost midnight. You do not walk alone that late in the city unless you have to.
It was about eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse.
We also know that Mrs. Jonas was married, but does not seem to be currently married. She appears to live alone except for the other roomers in the rooming house.
“…When I get through with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”
We also know that Mrs. Bates has a bit of a checkered past. She tells Roger that she was “young once” and implies that she understands his desire to turn to crime. She also tells him that she has done some bad things too.
“I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn’t already know. So you set down while I fix us something to eat. You might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable.”
Mrs. Jonas tells Roger about her life, and we learn why she was walking out so late.
Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish.
While these are all details of specific background information we are told, there is a lot we can infer about Mrs. Jones. We can tell that she has not had an easy life. We can also tell that she is somewhat lonely. Whatever happened to her husband, he is not in the picture anymore but she still uses his name. In addition to that, she lives alone except for the other boarders. The fact that she is lonely explains why she took him in.
We do not know specifically if Mrs. Jones had children or not, but she either did or wanted them. From the beginning of their encounter, Mrs. Jones both pities Roger and looks out for him. She treats him sternly but lovingly. She is aware that his life is not good—after all, he is out purse-snatching at eleven o’clock at night—but she does not see him as a criminal. Instead, she sees a boy who has been led astray, making one bad choice that does not have to determine the rest of his life.
She could have turned him into the police. Yet when she looked at him, she saw not a hardened criminal, but a boy whose unwashed face indicated that he had no one at home to look out for him. She then fed him and told him that his life did not have to be a series of bad choices. By letting him know the bad choice she made that she has overcome, she is able to show him that you can always turn your life around.
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