Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson Essay

Then, Miss Moore takes the kids on a certain “fieldtrip” to the toy store. Miss Moore prepares to teach the difference of how people spend money. Sylvia feels insulted and thinks that Miss Moore thinks they are stupid when she asked what money was. Miss Moore asked if they knew how much to tip a cab driver. Sylvia wanted to keep the money and save it to eat barbeque. Stealing seems to be common within the group. When they go into the toy store, Sugar seriously asked, “Can we steal?” (358) Ms Moore quickly refused and walked them around the toy store. The kids ss

We see the first signs of comprehension in the group. Things change as the laid back nature of the girls is shattered when Sugar comes up with an important observation. She says that “ I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs.” Sugar realizes

Jones contrasted the attitude of the daughter to the attitude of the mother. After they got rejected from the wrong school. The girl was worried that she could not go to school. She said “Mama, I can’t go to school?” (Jones, 1990’s, p. 1). After she said that, her mother replied, “One monkey don’t stop no show” (Jones, 1990’s, p.1). This shows that a parent will have a positive attitude and will keep trying for their kid no matter how many obstacles that will come in the way. The child is just worried that they might not be able to do something. There is a difference between the different schools that they go and check out. The first school that they mother wants the girl to go to, Seaton Elementary School, is not as big as the other school, which is Walker-Jones. The girl likes Walker-Jones because it is newer and it is larger. The mom does not really like it because it is not by the church that she goes to and it’s not the school she wanted her daughter to go to (Jones, 1990’s, p.1). But the mom deals with it because it is the school that her daughter can gto to. This shows that even though a parent may not agree with the school that their child has to go to, they deal with it because they just want the child to go to school and get an education. When they went to Seaton Elementary School, and they got rejected, the mother said, “I want her to go here” “If I’da wanted her someplace else, I’da took her there” (Jones, 1990’s, p. 1). This just shows that a parent

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

When Ms. Moore, Sylvia and the group of kids were in toy store the kids perspective about social class changes, the prices of toys were so expensive it makes the kids to begin to think about life as evident said by Sylvia  “...we start down  the block and she gets ahead which is O.K.by me cause I’m

Originally, in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia shows signs of detachment towards Miss Moore due to

Sylvia and Sammy are products of their environments. Being in an unpleasant environment would definitely put any individual on edge. Because both characters are unhappy with their surroundings, both are quite cynical. Aside from comparing one customer to a witch, Sammy also refers to others as “sheep” and points out “house-slaves in pin curlers” (Updike 3). Sylvia is also cynical in the way she talks of Miss Moore. At a point, Sylvia states that she is a “nappy-head[ed] bitch”, which in no means is a proper way for anyone, let alone a child, to speak (Bambara 1). Despite being so cynical, the reader finds that both characters have another side as well. When faced with desire, Sylvia’s and Sammy’s mannerism changes. The reader sees Sylvia in a whole new way when she sets eyes on the fiberglass sailboat. In fact, Sylvia’s entire persona changes. Not only is she dumbfounded by the price of the sailboat, but she is awestruck by its greatness. She grows quite mad about the price; nonetheless, this is the beginning of the change of her character and train of thought. This is where she realizes the economic imbalance of the world. Similarly to how Sylvia was taken by the sailboat, Sammy is captivated by the girls’ physical appearance, especially Queenie. This is made evident by the imagery of the text from his physical description of them. Bambara and Updike

In the 1960s, as displayed in the novel, social roles are a prominent influence in how people act in society. Despite the supremacy of these roles, the Blackwood family disregards these standards, acting out of norm for what women would do during this time period. This disregard for social roles displays criticism from an outsider's perspective since Merricat and her sister, Constance, do not follow the set beliefs in society and in fact show that social roles are not a relevant aspect in life. This neglect for roles can be seen in how the two sisters act after having their house destroyed by the townspeople and their family friend comes to invite them to her home, “‘They cannot be left alone,

When they arrive at the toy store, Sylvia struggles with the "new" class consciousness that is surfacing in her by attacking the values of high-end consumerism. While Sugar, Rosie, and Big Butt are having

The Lesson takes place in New York?s inner city. The fictional story begins with a group of poor, uneducated, lower class city kids standing in front of a mailbox, preparing themselves for another day of being taught by Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore felt that it was her duty to help underprivileged children learn because she

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

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

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.

“So this one day Miss Moore rounds us all up at the mailbox and its purdee hot and she’s knocking herself up about arithmetic. And school suppose to let up in summer I heard, but she don’t never let up.” (Bambara 470) Miss Moore hailed the group two cabs, and they were off.

“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