Social Barriers in The Lesson Essay

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is not just about a poor girl out of place in an expensive toy store, it tells the story of social barriers. As one reads, they find the story of an African-American girl and the cruelties of class inequality. Miss Moore introduces social class inequality to the students, a group of inter-city kids. Flyboy, Fat Butt, Junebug, Sugar, Rosie, Sylvia along with the other children are not at all interested in what Miss Moore is saying. Sylvia is the most vocal about not caring what Miss Moore has to say. It becomes apparent that Sylvia has some many problems with Miss Moore, but it seems those problems come from troubles Sylvia has within her own self. Sylvia realizes that she is poor, however she never gives it a second thought until forced to take a look at the luxuries of the wealthy. As Miss Moore introduces her to the life styles of the rich, Sylvia begins to attribute shame with being poor, and this sparks her to question the "lesson" of the story, how "money ain't divided up right in this country".

Sylvia uses daydreams to escape reality she refuses to accept. For instance, Miss Moore puts her in charge of paying the cab fare for the ride to the toy store, after seeing Sugar, Junebug, and Flyboy put on lipstick, she begins to imagine what she could with the money instead of pay the cab. We see this when she says, "So I'm stuck. Don't nobody want to go for my plan, which is to jump out at the next light and run off to the first bar-b-que we can find". When it's time for her to pay the driver, Sugar has to tell Sylvia how much to give. Sylvia's thoughts are divided between childish play and adult responsibility. Her daydreaming conflicts with her desire to respond to real situations.

When arriving at the store we learn more about how Sylvia feels about expensive and what she calls over priced merchandise. When seeing a paper weight this is her reaction, My eyes tell me it's a chunk of glass cracked with something heavy, and different-colored inks dripped into the splits, then the whole thing put in an oven or something. But for $480 it don't make sense". Sylvia begins to comprehend how she is alienated from the wealth she sees by comparing her own way of life to that of kids in the toy store. When she imagines herself asking her mother for one of the toys Sylvia knows that if she went to her mom asking for a thirty-five dollar birthday clown, her mother wouldn't even take her seriously: "`You wanna who that costs what?' she'd say, cocking her head to the side to get a better view of the hole in my head". In Sylvia's family, that much money pays for necessities. Sylvia confronts her poverty because she has no choice, the fact she does not have what others do is right in front of her. The toy store has shaken her from the denial of "the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I don't feature". Miss Moore's lesson on social inequality is the first time she is forced to notice a difference in class.

We begin to see Sylvia uses anger to hide her jealousness of people who can afford luxuries she cannot. Once she compares her world with the excess she sees at the toy store, she becomes angry and resentful. Sylvia takes her anger out on others indiscriminately to guard herself from her new thoughts and feelings: "Then Sugar run a finger over the whole boat. And I'm jealous and want to hit her. Maybe not her, but I sure want to punch somebody in the mouth". Sylvia cannot admit to herself that she is poor, because it makes her feel less then other people.

When Sylvia leaves the store, she is filled with emotions--confusion, anger, denial, and envy. She is not ready to deal the feelings she has inside and through criticizing Miss Moore, she finds an escape from what she knows to be true. In her responses to the toys, their prices, and the unseen people who buy them, it is evident that Sylvia is confronting the truth of Miss Moore's lesson. Sylvia refuses to recognize the reality she has seen, for her to accept that she is underprivileged is shameful for her, and Sylvia would rather deny it than swallow her pride: "ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin".