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Analysis Of The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

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In Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson”, a young girl named Sylvia who lives in a poor neighborhood is taken on a field trip to a nice part of town with some other kids in the neighborhood by a lady on her block, Miss Moore. Sylvia, who is authority on the block, feels her authority slipping away as Miss Moore shows that the world is bigger than the neighborhood. Sylvia tries to fight back by keeping the change from the cab ride, not taking part of the conversation taking place in front of the toy store, and trying to control what the other kids say at the mailbox. But throughout the lesson, the other kids are slowly slipping away from her authoritative grasp. By allowing the kids see the expensive toys in the toy store and realize their own financial situation, Miss Moore is teaching a lesson. Sylvia tries to fight against the lesson, but in the climax and denouement, she is the only kid who has learned it. The climax starts when the kids go on the train to go back home after seeing expensive toys. Throughout their …show more content…

While it seems like none of them do, Sugar comes out and talks about how the sailboat costs more than what all of the kids could earn in a year. Miss Moore pushes her to go on while Sylvia steps on her foot, hoping to stop her from talking. But Sugar continues on by saying “Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it?”. Here lies the lesson that Miss Moore wanted the children to understand. While these children have only know the poverty they have grown up in, they can have a chance to have wealth. America is the land of opportunity, all these kids have to do is take a step to make their own situation better. Sylvia subconsciously learns the lesson when “somethin weird is goin on, I can feel it in my chest”. She doesn’t want Miss Moore to get the satisfaction knowing that this girl who has been fighting the lesson understands

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The choices made at the end of each story were made due to characters pride getting the best of them and can be predicted to harm them in the future. After walking away from Miss Moore, Sylvia thinks about the day and claims “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 6). Throughout the story, Sylvia has pessimistic thoughts that may affect her future. By not admitting she learned something, it can be inferred that her pride will not allow her to acknowledge the lesson. Due to this, Sylvia may suffer a fall in her life, such as the quotation, “pride comes before Destruction” suggests.

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In the story, the reader is told that Sylvia had grown up in a “crowded manufacturing town” before moving to her grandmother’s farm. In addition, the grandmother states that Sylvia is, “‘Afraid of folks,’” which allows the reader to assume that Sylvia is very shy and

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In fact, as the author in this story, Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia grew up in a very poor neighborhood. Sylvia’s understanding of the world is limited to what she experiences within her neighborhood and her tiny apartment. Scarcity and want are no strangers to her. Luckily, Sylvia and the other kids have Miss Moore as a mentor. Miss Moore begins to work within the kids’ environment to enrich them inasmuch as possible with education.

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Sylvia was the youngest girl in the game and the only girl that carried a gun. Sylvia's Main thing was to prove that she was just as tough as her older brother Marcus. Sylvia was asked by Marcus's homies to help rob a gas station They walk to the gas station Marcus's homies held Sylvia on their shoulders When they got there they used the handle of their pistols to break the window and pushed Sylvia through the window and told the cashier we are here to rob you and you better not press any buttons with a gun held to her face Sylvia took all the money from the register gave it to the Bloods then she demanded her share. Marcus's homies looked at her crazy and said we'd buy you a Popsicle or something Sylvia looked at them and said no you won't that job is going to give me some money too so Marcus’s homies gave her a whole bunch of change. Sylvia always stood out from The Pact she wasn't like the other girls who took orders from the men and listen to them Sylvia did not Sylvia wanted to be one of the guys she wanted to prove she was just like her older brother.

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Why is Sylvia angry? Should she be sad or disappointed instead of being angry? Is Sylvia angry because of social inequality? I think Sylvia and Sugar feel uncomfortable being at FAO Schwartz.

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The symbols present in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, depict the economic and social injustices faced by specific members of society, specifically the children in the story. The characters in the story are being mentored by Miss Moore, a woman from their block who has taken up the role of taking them out on weekly outings. The story touches on the situation of the children that are stuck in living in almost poverty. “The Lesson” focuses on the socioeconomic disparities between the different racial groups and how. Bambara uses several techniques such as irony, othering, and second person point of view to make the story meaningful and demonstrate the characteristics of the characters.

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