Introduction
Toni Cade Bambara’s brief story The Lesson expands on many themes about existence. The author presents Miss Moore to convey a message to the children. Besides, Miss Moore is used by the author as an introduction to themes in the story. The incidents occurred in 1960; therefore, the reader can relate to the societal standards of the period. The plot focuses on two major characters, a little girl named Sylvia and a schoolteacher who the writer refers to as Miss Moore. The story begins when Miss Moore takes the youngsters on a shopping expedition. Despite Bambara being a political activist, the plot focuses on social equality, the absence of equal education for African Americans, and the economic lifestyle. The essay will analyze socioeconomic disparities and classism, the significance of education in society, and the rich-poor divide to examine many issues in The Lesson’s short narrative.
Economic Inequality
The fundamental subject that connects the two portions of the short story is economic injustice. Miss Moore attempts to explain it to the youngsters, but she implicitly invites them to express their thoughts. The narrative begins in the children’s neighborhood, where they live in tight quarters, before proceeding to one of New York’s costliest establishments. As a result, multiple characters debate the various items they might purchase with the value of the toys in the shop. Miss Moore tries to show the wealth disparity by polling the children on her thoughts while saying, “Some individuals would spend more money on a toy than it would take to feed a big household. “What do you think?” (Bambara 131); a young girl by the name of Sugar responds, “It is not as important as democracy” (Bambara 131). Miss Moore is enlightened as the youngsters begin to comprehend the economic system.
Indirect methods are also used to establish the theme of economic inequality. This is where the children start comparing the sailboats they can afford and those that they thought were way too expensive for them. Besides, the cheap sailboats are easily damaged and can sink at any time. This is because they were made from inferior and cheap materials. Thus, the toys were just a representation of the possessions that were readily available to them. Accordingly, it was more of an insinuation that rejected items belonged to those with low status in society. Furthermore, the children could not possess anything as most of them did not have a workspace, as they never had desks of their own.
The theme of economic inequality also plays a vital role in this short story through the character of Mercedes. Despite this personality being in the same neighborhood with the kids, she had a better life than them as she could afford nice things such as scented stationery. The children experience resentment when she does share her stuff with them as they shove and insult her. Miss Moore attempts to enlighten the Child’s brains with her words, “where we are who we are” (Bambara 150). Considering that the white people are spending a substantial amount of money on F.A.O.shwarz, while Miss Moore and the children live in impoverished houses provided by the government. Moreover, they could not afford to stay somewhere better because of their backgrounds.
Race and Community
The main idea that the short story demonstrates is the gap between the White nobility and the African Americans. This is because of the better lives the whites live, whereas blacks are isolated in ghettos despite the adjournment of the segregation law. Miss Moore is described as a person who wears her hair naturally, which is significant as it symbolizes the pride of being an African. Moreover, she refuses to wear makeup and is not married, which indicates her participation in the feminist movement. She is also focused on service to the community and brotherhood. Although she has class affection, she is not of middle-class background.
On the contrary, Sylvia is out of herself and highly competitive. She considers her aunt to be a fool because she takes care of her sister’s children. Sylvia’s background does not provide an excellent opportunity to study, as she does not perform well in math and science. Despite the fact she is not that smart in school, she can grasp Miss Moore’s basic education on life, even though she does not comply with giving the needed answers. Despite Sylvia and her parents viewing Miss Moore as someone with strange behaviors and views, her caretakers still style her to go for Miss Moore’s outings. Thus, these two characters in the story represent different aspects and understanding that concern community and race in America.
Anger
In the short story, Sylvia is said to be in a state of directionless anger and confusion. She understands that whatever is making her upset is some persuasive force. However, the girl has a problem with stating in words what she feels. “For some reason,” she says of the sailboat, “this pisses me off” (Bambara 33). When Sugar touches the boat while she cannot do it, she says, “I am jealous I want to hit her.” She clarifies as if it is not Sugar, as she wants to hit “she wants to punch somebody in the mouth” (Bambara 134). She clearly does not understand what anger means, as the little girl is still a child and avoids thinking about it.
Nonetheless, her fury is an integral part of The Lesson, as Miss Moore asks whether she is angry and carefully observes her responses. Anger has been used as a source of power to fight back and change the world. “Standing up and demanding a piece of the pie” (Bambara 168). Sylvia is posed to fight for what truly belongs to her and contest all those who wronged her.
Conclusion
Miss Moore tries to push the children to get out of the cycle that the entire neighborhood and their families have been living through from one generation to another to better themselves. They ought to overcome the mentality of doing nothing with their lives and being uneducated and poor. The story also revolves around social inequalities and classism as it tries to encourage the kids to see the world from a more significant angle where they should step out of their comfort zones. It also emphasizes the significance of educating youngsters about real-world concerns. Besides, it reflects the gap between the rich and poor, who are entirely different because of wealth. The theme of race has also been used to show how different the whites are from the blacks, as they are noble. Anger has been used to show that society should fight back for justice, reduce the gap between the underprivileged and the wealthy, and the existing disparities between whites and blacks.
Work Cited
Bambara, Toni C. Gorilla, My Love. Random House (NY), 1972.