Analysis of The Lesson Essay

The Lesson

The lesson was one of the many touching stories written by author Toni Cade Bambara. The Lesson is a first person narrative told by a young, poor, black girl growing up in Harlem in an unspecified time period known only as Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish.(Roberts 373). In The Lesson, a field trip is imitated by a woman who takes it upon herself to expose the unappreciative children of the neighborhood to the world outside of their oppressed community. Miss Moore is the women and the only person who is properly educated in her neighborhood. The destination of the trip is to an elegant toy store which is located in New Yorks Sax Fifth Avenue. Through the story, Toni Bambara uses setting and characterization to convey her theme of the intense effects of socioeconomic class differences in America, and the hidden way a woman who rose above the prevailing racism and unjust economic differences, of the time, passes her message to children who desperately need it.

Toni Cade Bambara was brought up in Harlem, New York. She received a degree from Queens College and another from the City College of New York. She eventually moved into the teaching field and taught at many schools including Rutgers and Duke. Novels that she has written include The Salt Eater and If Blessing Comes. Due to her being deeply affected by the Black Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, most of her writings have to do with poverty and African American culture (Horsley).

Setting is one aspect that Bambara uses to depict her theme of class differences in America. The characters in the story live with their extended families all in a crammed apartment. This is an example of the poverty that they live in. The places that the children socialize with are littered with alcoholic bums that urinate all over, further emphasizing the poverty that members of their community endure. One character states that Where we are is who we are (Bambara 377). This emphasizes that where they live, will have an effect on their chances of becoming something in life.

The next major setting in The Lesson is the F.A.O Schwarz toy store. This a toy store where rich and classy people shop and somewhere where the kids in the story would never imagine going. Miss Moore wants the children to browse the store through the window at first to show them the prices of some of the items that the store sells. It is likely that Miss Moore chose to visit a toy store to emphasize the amount of money that some Americans spend on items that are purely for leisure, and so that the items within the store would catch the childrens attention. After the children have become comfortable with the items from the outside, Miss Moore lets them go inside. This ties into the theme because it shows that whether rich or poor, you should be able to have the same opportunities as one another.

There are two main characters in the short story The Lesson. Miss Moore possesses a college degree and is the classiest person in her neighborhood. She personally feels that she needs to help the kids of her community so that they can become something in life, rather than a person without an education and end up like the people they are surrounded by now. The children eventually gain respect for her because a field trip that originally seems to be about arithmetic turns out to be quite revolutionary.(Heller) In reality she is trying to teach the children a lesson, hence the title, and see if they will learn.

Sylvia is the next main character and also the narrator. Sylvia is a school aged girl and as stated earlier lives in the slums. Due to this shortcoming she is angry, shameful and disillusioned to society. Sylvia has a stern and stubborn attitude towards Miss Moore, but eventually learns from the journey that they took. Throughout the story, Sylvia learns about the uneven distribution of wealth in American society. At the end of the story, Sylvia is inspired by this realization. She realizes that she wants some of what is out there; she wants a piece of that pie. She wants an opportunity in life and a chance to succeed. Sylvia, in the beginning was probably the only person the reader would assume would not learn anything from the journey that she was on, but it turns out that learned the most valuable lesson.

The lesson ultimately is that no matter what class, race or background a person comes from, we all have the same opportunity to succeed, and you just need to want it. Toni Cade Bambara uses the settings throughout the story to convey her theme that socioeconomic differences can make an impact on your future. She also uses characterization to show the reader how her character has changed and that we all can learn a valuable lesson from other peoples cultures and backgrounds. Reading this story will give every reader an understanding of their own cultures and struggles.