Introduction
The issue of inequality of people who come from different social backgrounds has been central for many people in politics, social studies, and literature as well. An American author and social activist, Toni Cade Bambara, develops the topic of inequality in one of her short stories, “The Lesson.” This paper contains a brief summary of “The Lesson” and attempts to analyze the main literary devices used by the author to reveal the theme.
“The Lesson”: Brief Summary
A teacher takes an unusual approach to give a lesson and leads a group of sick African-American children to a costly toy store, which serves as the main setting of the story. The price of the playthings sold there could easily cover all the daily expenses of the children and their families. Therefore the children are astonished at the possibility that there exist people who could buy such outrageously expensive trifles and not get bankrupt.
For the first time in their lives, the children learn the lesson of economic inequality based on racial and class prejudices. The necessity for educating poor children about the injustice of their situation is the main idea of “The Lesson.” The importance of the conflict can be traced through the ways Bambara handles her story in terms of style, audience, and purpose.
Literary Analysis of “The Lesson”
The most prominent element of Bambara’s story is the style she applies to render her ideas and point of view. “The Lesson” is told from the first-person perspective, which allows to bring the readers closer to the events described in the story and to make them empathize with the narrator. From the very first lines of the story, the readers can observe the way the narrator perceives the surrounding world and the people.
Toni Bambara employs a wide range of slang vocabulary to emphasize the background of her characters. Numerous samples of informal speech can be found in the text. Words as “nappy hair,” “junkman,” “winos,” “boring-ass things” are indicative of the narrator’s social origins from the outskirts of the city (Bambara 1148). The rudeness of such words as “bitch” and “goddamn” suggests that the narrator has not got any proper upbringing in terms of good manners (Bambara 1149).
Preserving the original colloquial constructions like “some kinda shape” or “whatcha gonna do,” the author succeeds in creating an illusion of live speech addressed directly to the reader (T.Bambara 1148, 1150). Thus, through vivid vocabulary and unceremonious tone of the story, Bambara creates a character of a poorly brought up child from a bad neighborhood.
In connection with the stylistic features of “The Lesson,” it appears reasonable to assume unsophisticated, battered by the hardships of the everyday struggle for life, such people are that the target audience of the story is the people who are like the story narrator. Simple, not interested in deciphering all the complicated phrases of proper language.
They should be addressed in the way that is familiar and understandable to them, and Bambara — through the narrator of the story — treats such people as equal, speaking to them in their language. Appealing to such an audience helps Bambara to achieve the primary purpose of her writing: to make it clear for the poor and the suffering that their living situation is not fair. It is not incidental that the initial reaction of the children brought to the store is astonishment and shock at the ridiculous prices for such simple and seemingly unnecessary things as a paperweight or a toy sailboat (Bambara 1150–1151). On the example of this excursion into the world of the rich person, Bambara demonstrates the unfairness and injustice when some people have barely anything to eat, and others can afford to buy expensive trifles just for fun.
Conclusion
This essay aimed to make an analysis of “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. The main idea of the text is the necessity of demonstrating the enormous gap that separates the rich from the poor. Once the sick children see this gap, they start analyzing the reasons for such a situation. And once they know the reasons, they can take the needed action for eliminating their suffering and for improving their lives and the lives of their families. An end should be put to living in the dark about the actual state of affairs; only in this way can poor people hope for a better life.
Works Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.”Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th edition. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 1148–53. Print.