Literary Magnum Opus of Toni Cade Bambara Essay

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

The major theme of the story was creating awareness in adolescents about what life has to offer. The nature of human beings of accepting the realities of life to such an extent that apathy and lethargy sets in, is what proves to be destructive for the social fabric of today’s world. In this stagnation, Mrs. Moore provides the impetus required for people to realize their god given right to something better. We are told that Mrs. Moore has a college degree, is well dressed most of the times, and has a good command on her language. She seems to be a kind of a person who has seen the world. She has experienced life, and wants to use that experience in providing the children with an opportunity to broaden

Toni Cade Bambara addresses how knowledge is the means by which one can escape out of poverty in her story The Lesson. In her story she identifies with race, economic inequality, and literary epiphany during the early 1970’s. In this story children of African American progeny come face to face with their own poverty and reality. This realism of society’s social standard was made known to them on a sunny afternoon field trip to a toy store on Fifth Avenue. Through the use of an African American protagonist Miss Moore and antagonist Sylvia who later becomes the sub protagonist and White society the antagonist “the lesson” was ironically taught. Sylvia belong to a lower economic class, which affects her views of herself within highlights the

In "The Lesson" it talks about a group of children who lives in the slum of New York City in the 1970s. Sylvia the main character is ignorant, rude and stubborn. In the summer all she wanted to do is have fun with her friends however, Miss Moore a well educated black woman took it upon her self to take Sylvia and her friends to a toy store called F.O.A schwarz in manhattan. On the trip Miss Moore is trying to show them a different world , the "real world" something the children are not accustom to seeing. She's helping them to figure their identity and how they are as a person. At the end Sylvia realizes that she is a strong and intelligent individual.

In the beginning of the story Sylvia tried to ignore  any topics that weren’t related to money or sometime to her interest. In the cab Sylvia is supposed to calculate a tip for the driver, but  rather comes up with a new plan for the money Ms. Moore has given her. Sylvia calculates the tip for driver ,and she decides  that she needs the money than the driver does. In this part of the story Sylvia is thinking about anything that would help her get her mind off the trip she says “would much rather snatch sugar and go to the sunset and terrorize the West Indian kids and take their hair ribbons and their money too”(Bambara 2). This shows that Sylvia isn’t focused on trip rather she is focus on ways to make money herself. Sylvia is all about money and taking of herself she wants to better than her friends.

Emily Dickinson was an exceptional writer through the mid-late 1800’s. She never published any of her writings and it wasn’t until after her death that they were even discovered. The complexity of understanding her poems is made prevalent because of the fact that she, the author, cannot expound on what her writing meant. This causes others to have to speculate and decide for themselves the meaning of any of her poems. There are several ways that people can interpret Emily Dickinson’s poems; readers often give their opinion on which of her poems present human understanding as something boundless and unlimited or something small and limited, and people always speculate Dickinson’s view of the individual self.

The expensive toys frustrate the children. Especially, the thousand-dollar toy sailboat. At the end, the children learn a lesson about how democracy doesn’t provide an equal chance. Even Sylvia reflects on what she observed. With characterization and diction, Bambara alters an off-putting character and a submissive character by developing

Despite all her rebellious actions, Sylvia feels slightly uncomfortable when everyone is about to enter F.A.O. Schwarz. She states, “…but when we get there I kinda hang back. Not that I'm scared, what's there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, shame.” (Bambara 4). The quote signifies that for some reason, Sylvia is feeling insecure. She is not afraid of a simple toy store, but it is something different. She knows it is embarrassment. In this context, the cognizance is coming to Sylvia in the form of embarrassment. After witnessing the immensely different lifestyles on Fifth Avenue, she starts to understand Miss Moore’s ideas. She is slowly learning just how big the cavity is between the different economical classes. She feels like an outsider. The child in her is slowly growing up, absorbing the harsh reality of the world in the process. In addition, when the children are at the store, the exorbitant prices of the toys compels Sylvia to question herself of the social and economic differences. She states, “Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain't in on it? ” (Bambara 5). According to the quote, all the children have arrived at the toy store F.A.O. Schwarz and got a look at the inflated prices of the toys. Sylvia is questioning herself about

The theme in "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara appears to be a lesson on

The negative effects can be seen in that competition for jobs in American society is so competitive that author John Michael Roberts asserts that people, "Work for free" (28). While Americans tend to believe that competition brings out the best in people, the Marxist theory states that it actually brings out the worst in people such as greed, selfishness, and unethical actions. This can be seen by how the characters of "The Lesson" and Callie's family are living in extreme poverty despite being in the richest nations in the world. Danzinger and Danzinger assert, "The child poverty rate in the US is high in relation to the rate in other industrialized countries" (57). This high poverty rate can be seen in "The Lesson" and it shows how competition can leave some people at the bottom even in New York, one of the richest states in the United States. Miss Moore sees that it is unjust for kids to be living in such poverty and says, "Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven" ("The Lesson", Bambara 151). While some people get rich off competing, some get left behind and many times the ones that do get ahead had to do something unethical. Sylvia notices all of the unethical practices it takes to get ahead in a competitive society and as a result, when Miss Moore gives Sylvia money

The first thing learned is that poverty is a way of life for these children. Although they know they are poor, it doesn't bother them because everyone there is poor. It's okay to be without when there isn't any competition. An example of this is seen when the children talk of their study areas at home. Only one of them actually have a desk and paper, and the others think nothing of it. Instead they tell her to shut up about it. The children are proud of themselves and of their life.

Throughout The Lesson economic class was deal with among the children in F.A.O Schwartz toy store. Sylvia mentions what Miss Moore have been saying about the economic barrier she states “how money ain’t divided up right in this country. And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I don’t feature” (643). Even before the children were on their journey they were being made aware of the economic gap. A gap in which there were those who had more money than others. This was a reminder of the conditions in which they lived compared to others who had the money. Some of the children on the trip identified with the economic gap among themselves. While some had a desk and a stationary “I do…I have a box stationary on my desk” (644) says Mercedes other did not even have a desk. June bug states “I don’t have a desk” (644). Some of the kids had things that the others did not though they were all from the average working class family. Economic class was then identified as Sylvia was

The children in the neighborhood are probably the most influential people in Sylvia’s life, since she is around them most frequently, and they are her peers. They too seem to come from the same kind of background as Sylvia—poor, defensive,

“The Lesson” by Bambara really does have a lesson at the end. This lesson that is really shown to the kids is that life is not what it really seems. The kids thought that they had an alright life but after going to that toy store, they got to how life really is. While the kids were at the toy store they didn’t understand why the prices were so high when you can get the same thing at a knockoff store, but that’s when they realized the expensive stuff cost more money. So the real lesson learned in this short store is life is not what it seems and you really have to work to get what you need in life. Now you see how Miss Moore

Sylvia’s life in the story “The Lesson” brings me back to my own childhood in many ways. As a young girl I grew up in an uneducated, low income household. I too, knew as a young girl, we were poor. I never let it bother me, I never thought there was something wrong with being poor. Living in low income apartment housing with many children just like myself was the norm in my world. We ran the neighborhood, had tons of adventures, and yet we were content with our lives just the way they were. As I grew older and began spending time with my Aunt Julie, she helped me realized there was a whole other world out there I knew nothing about.