The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

Miss Moore takes the kids around the toy store to see the toys. The kids were shocked when they saw the prices of the toys.

We realize that Mrs. Moore is trying to open their eyes to the world around them, when she takes them on a trip around the expensive shopping complexes of the city. As Mrs. Moore takes them through these areas, we get the distinct impression that Sylvia gets angry. She discovers a fiber glass boat that is worth a thousand dollars. Sugar touches the boat, at which she gets jealous. She does not realize at first the reason for her anger, and almost directs it at her cousin, Sugar. Yet she stops herself and realizes that she is not angry with Sugar, rather that something else is wrong.

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.

The setting of the poor inner city helps us realize how unevenly the pie is split up between members of society. As close as the inner city is to Manhattan, they are worlds apart in terms of social class and wealth. The lesson that the children take out of the field trip with Ms. Moore directly related to the fact that these children have been raised less fortunately that some, and to get out of oppression and poverty, they will have to work. The children realize the value of money and how unfair it is that there is so much wealth in Manhattan and a stone 's throw away in the inner city, there is extreme poverty. The children learn social gaps are very wide, and by leaving their ghetto area they some to she that in comparison to Manhattan, they are all receiving the small slice of the American pie. Miss Moore and the Manhattan trip help the children realize that poverty is not found everywhere, and that education can give them the power to elevate their status.

Some experiences can change people as individuals and how they view things. The process of people growing up can take time but when a transformation occurs it  can be difficult to handle. Sylvia, the narrator in Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," learns a lesson about social class how the rich are different from poor ,she realizes that the money rich people spend for their kids toys can feed a whole household of poor families.In the process, she loses some part of her pride that characterizes her childhood because she thought she was living a good life  till she realizes that rich kids toys can feed her entire household so she  begins to look for hints  or ways of being wealth so that she can  have better life than her family. She

Based on their reactions to Miss Moore, they treat her as if she is an eccentric lady. However, that doesn’t provide a reason for the audience to hate her too. Due to Sylvia’s unwarranted negative attitude towards Miss Moore, Bambara conveys Sylvia as a rude and distasteful character. Despite her youth and immaturity, her disrespectful behavior is not excused. Not only does Sylvia call Miss Moore a “nappy-head bitch” but also believes that the lessons are “boring-ass things” (p. 60).

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

Some of them include a paperweight and a sailboat. Initially, none of the children, especially Sylvia, knew what the paperweight was. She says to herself that ?my eyes tell me it?s a chunk of glass cracked with something heavy, and different-color inks dripped into the splits, then the whole thing put into a oven or something. But for $480 it don?t make sense? (Bambara 123). After Mrs. Moore explains what it is, the children still cannot comprehend its use or the price. Bambara uses the paperweight to symbolize importance. A paperweight is used to hold something that is of value, something that someone wishes not to lose. The children have never known or owned something that is precious. At the same time, the paperweight can symbolize that their living in the slums and never reaching out for something more can be holding them down. They are the important ones under that paperweight. A better life, one in which their basic needs are met, costs a price- one that they are not use to. To them, $400 is a life?s worth of work and unfathomable. The price of their future is going to have be something that they will have to strive for and open their minds past their current dwellings. Similarly, the sailboat is also used by Bambara to represent freedom and the journey that lies in front of them.

Toni Cade Bambara’s "The Lesson" revolves around a young black girl’s struggle to come to terms with the role that economic injustice, and the larger social injustice that it constitutes, plays in her life. Sylvia, the story’s protagonist, initially is reluctant to acknowledge that she is a victim of poverty. Far from being oblivious of the disparity between the rich and the poor, however, one might say that on some subconscious level, she is in fact aware of the inequity that permeates society and which contributes to her inexorably disadvantaged economic situation. That she relates poverty to shame—"But I feel funny, shame. But what I got to be

In “The Lesson,” the author shows how one can alter their circumstances. The story is being told by a young girl name Sylvia; through her observation of living in Harlem, readers are able to get a glance of what kind of environment she and the other children lived in. Sylvia was known to be outspoken and unruly but by Miss Moore taking her and her peers under her wing she made a change for the better. Miss Moore took the children on a trip to an expensive store in Manhattan called F.A.O Swartz where the children saw a variety of toys with expensive price tags. Miss Moore wanted the children to see how wealthy people lived and that the other opportunities out there. This short story shows how the environment contributes to ones determination of achieving the American Dream. Although, Miss Moore was well adjusted to this environment, the

In the story it is summer time and Sylvia is on summer vacation, “And school suppose to let up in summer I heard, but she don’t never let us” (Bambara 147). Summer vacation for Sylvia is spending time at the park, at the show, and at the pool, and as Sylvia proclaims “its puredee hot” (Bambara 147). Sylvia's first thought is further reflected in her desire to “go to the pool or the show where it's cool”(Bambara 147), where she would just let life happen to her, and never get worked up and angry over the social injustice created by class distinctions. When Sylvia did not got the satisfactory answer from Miss Moore for the price of real boat her anger was spotted, “if you gonna mess up a perfectly good swim day least you could do is have some answers” (Bambara 149). This emphasize that she want the answer of every injustice that she is facing in her life. Just as Miss Moore is trying to create a feeling of “ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 151), she is also trying to provoke the anger which is necessary for the children to get motivated.

We immediately learn that Miss Moore is not the average Harlem teacher. She is educated herself, along with being very opinionated. The children explain that she has nappy

To Sylvia, being educated means seeing things as they are. Sylvia and Miss Moore both have a considerable amount of pride. Sylvia thinks Miss Moore shows disrespect when she describes their neighborhood as a slum and their families as poor. Bambara has indicated that Sylvia 's family is striving for better conditions through the mention of the piano rental. Miss Moore views the children 's acceptance of their economic condition as ignorance and their ignorance as disrespect for their race. Miss Moore wants to change this attitude and encourages the children to demand more from the society that keeps them down. By the end of the story, both of these characters have made their points. Sylvia realizes

At the store, it is not long before the children begin seeing things that interest them. The first of these is a microscope that costs $300. Miss Moore comments on the educational value of microscopes but the children poke fun at the idea. “”Hey, I’m going to buy that there.”