Short Story Analysis: The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

Alexa Anderson
Johnson
College English 1102
15 September 2015
“The Lesson” Short Story Analysis Sylvia, the narrator in the short story, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is a dynamic character who helps create the theme that the world around her is separated based on societal rank and race. Her mounting understanding of this concept is derived from Miss Moore, whose character serves the purpose to illuminate the differences among social classes to Sylvia and the other children in Harlem, New York. She is an educated woman, who brings the children in the town on field trips to teach them about society and other important life lessons. Although Miss Moore evidently has a large effect on Sylvia, the two of them do not get along. In fact, Sylvia
She begins to understand how her and her family are poor with limited consumerism. She again daydreams about asking her mother for $35 to buy a birthday clown, but also imagines her mother shooting the idea down and giving her a whole explanation on the value of money. Sylvia begins to ask herself questions about those who spend their money on frivolous items such as birthday clowns and $1000 sailboats: “What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?” (Bambara 391). Miss Moore’s lesson has transformed the way Sylvia thinks. Before going to the toy store and seeing the high-end consumerism and then beginning to comprehend what that actually meant to her, she was completely in the dark. Miss Moore helps Sylvia acknowledge her own poverty and reinforces to the children that they don’t have to be poor. In fact, even Sylvia recognizes Miss Moore’s uplifting advice, “She always adds then waits for somebody to say that poor people have to wake up and demand their share of the pie” (Bambara
Sylvia is a very dynamic character, which means developing, and her development throughout the story helps craft the theme of the story. The theme of “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara has to do with how some suffer under economic limitations and that race and social standing plays a significant role in society. Sylvia and the other children grow up in Harlem, New York, which is historically known for its poverty. Many people during the time period were being subjugated due to their race, and in this story Miss Moore implies that despite the race of her and the children they can work hard to achieve greatness in their lives. Sylvia changes throughout the story and even seems to be inspired. She thinks to herself, “Ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nothing” (Bambara 391), which tells the readers that she has honed in on Miss Moore’s lesson and decided to change her life for the better. It is at this moment when she reaches her last stage, discovering her own identity. She figures out that she is a strong individual and that hard work and perseverance can get her where ever she plans to go. One appreciates this story because of the multiple and deep layers it has to it. The story shows how a character can undergo a significant realization in their life due to an authority