Toni Cade Bambaras story The Lesson is a coming of age story for an inner-city girl. The story is told in the first-person point of view by Sylvia. Sylvia is a very angry girl. She begins her account by professing her hate for her self-appointed teacher, Miss Moore (1107). Miss Moores lesson for the day is about the unequal distribution of wealth. To relate the lesson to Sylvia and the other neighborhood children, Miss Moore conducts a field trip to F.A.O. Schwartz, an expensive toy store. Opposed to the idea of the field trip from the beginning, Sylvia is angered further by what she discovers. The Lesson has many intriguing elements. Elements that stand out most are characters, language and theme.
To begin with, the first intriguing element is the characters. The main characters in the story are Sylvia and Miss Moore. The author decides to tell the story through the eyes of Sylvia, a child, symbolizing the future. Sylvia displays resistance to the lesson Miss Moore tries to communicate. Sylvia appeared to be content with the status quo. Miss Moores questions inflamed Sylvia further because she wanted answers. If you gonna mess up a perfectly good swim day least you could do is have some answers (1111). Although she never gives answers, Miss Moore does reach the Sylvia and the other children. She knows she is not rich, but she does not want to believe she is poor. Sylvia does not want to face the reality of injustice because it takes away her innocence. Sylvia just wants to have fun. The more Miss Moore pointed out inequalities, the more Sylvia hated her.
Told through the eyes of a child, The Lesson appears to target adults. Children may be defiant; however, they are the future. For change to come about adults must reach the children. Getting the message to Sylvia is not easy. Nevertheless, Sylvias final, aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin (1113), says she is touched.
Next, The Lesson is written very colloquially. There may be several reasons the writer may have choose this method of writing. The first reason is that the dialect gives a sense that the children are undereducated. Inadequate education is one of the concerns the writer brings to light. Another reason is Sylvias informal speech creates a conversational feel. The story is more of a personal experience with the speaker. A third explanation for the informal writing may be to reach a target audience. Many poor people are undereducated. As a result, the language may appear more genuine.
Finally, the theme of the story is Miss Moores lesson. Where we are is who we arebut it dont necessarily have to be that waypoor people have to wake up and demand their share of the pie (1112). She and the children live in what she refers to as the slums (1108); therefore, they are marked by poverty. Miss Moore chooses to deliver her lesson through an extravagant toy store. Miss Moores choice of a toy store represents her claim that the wealthy play with money and may be used to relate to the children. In her lesson, Miss Moore asks the children questions relating toys to necessities. Miss Moore asks the children if they know what real money is (1108); she asked how long it would take the children to save enough money to buy one of the toys (1109); and she asked the children what they though of a society in which some can spend on a toy what it costs to feed a family of six or seven (1112). The story has racial undertones. On a two occasions, the children state, White folks crazy (1109, 1112). These statements reflect more the period in which the story is written than the theme. More statements connecting disposable money to necessities such as, That much money it should last forever (1110), sets more a tone of the extremely poor versus the extremely rich. Overall, the focus of The Lesson is on the injustice of unequal wealth distribution in society.
In conclusion, The Lesson represents the awakening of a disadvantaged girl. This awakening is meant to reach poor people and catalyze change. By writing in the first person point of a child, the writer makes the reader aware of the future. The battle of Sylvia against Miss Moore acknowledges that bringing about change will not be easy or instant, but the battle is worth fighting. In order to highlight inadequate education, make the story more personal and authentic and reach a target audience, the style of writing is very relaxed. Taken as a whole, the theme of The Lesson is the unjust distribution of wealth. Of the many intriguing elements of The Lesson, elements that are most prominent are characters, language and theme.
Work Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. The Lesson. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers, 3/e. Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003. 1107-1113
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