Notes on Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson"

Characters: Sylvia: the narrator and protagonist, a sassy, defiant African-American girl who resists the educational overtures of Miss Moore. The story's plot centers on a "teaching moment" or pedagogical breakthrough, where Sylvia is disturbed out of her complacency, having been exposed to the other side of the social ladder. Sugar: one of Sylvia's better friends, a sidekick if you will. Sugar noticeably picks up on Miss Moore's lesson faster than Sylvia, and she even defies Sylvia's authority in the process, which contributes to Sylvia's feelings of disruption. Flyboy, Fat Butt, Mercedes, Rosie, Junebug, Q.T.: other children who accompany Miss Moore on the field trip to F.A.O. Schwartz Miss Moore: college educated woman who "gives back" to her community by volunteering to assist with the children's education. Ostensibly, or at least viewed from the narrator's perspective, Miss Moore is the antagonist of the story. She is preventing the children from having fun on their own terms, saddling them with boring, pointless instruction. When we step back with the understanding that Sylvia's point of view is limited and unreliable, we recognize that Miss Moore is an actual ally to the children; her mission is to raise their consciousness, to teach them to recognize the social inequality endemic to America. She adopts techniques reminiscent of Paulo Freire's problem posing methods, as discussed in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Instead of teaching the children knowledge in the abstract, e.g. arithmetic, Miss Moore forces them to apply their math skills to real world, practical situations: paying a cab fare and calculating the 10% tip, pricing the items in the toy store, which serves as the basis for a larger life lesson about equal opportunity, thus making the children understand their disadvantaged position on the social scale. Her toughest sell is Sylvia. At the end of the story, Miss Moore has triumphed, in that Sylvia is determined to think the problem through and moreover do something about it. The plot of the story takes the form of a journey from the Harlem ghetto to downtown Manhattan (F.A.O. Schwartz) and back. The cab ride to the store helps to build the dramatic tension (can Sylvia calculate the tip?, will the children behave?). The crux of the action takes place at the store, from the outside looking in, and then inside the store proper. We see the children taken out of their comfort zone. They experience an alienation effect. What are these poor kids doing in a store with toys that they could never afford? Bambara evokes their growing awareness primarily through dialogue and descriptions of their reactions. Bambara leaves little doubt as to the meaning of the lesson, and some critics might accuse her of being overly dogmatic; however, what rescues the story from heavy-handedness is the telling of the story. Putting it in the saucy words of the stubborn, bossy Sylvia, we get to share in an intimate way the sea change occuring within her. Imagining the story told in the third person would likely result in a pedantic exercise. Told in the first, the lesson feels like the beginning of a personal transformation. Bambara makes effective use of imagery, especially in the toy store. The microscope, paper

weight, and sail boat all have lessons to teach. The microscope has symbolic value, for in its ability to reveal what cannot be seen with the naked eye, the microscope objectifies what Miss Moore would have the children discover in themselves, their unseen, unnoticed, blindness to their own oppression. The paper weight helps them to realize that they have no papers worth holding down. And the $1000 sailboat makes them acutely aware of their economic deficits. "Where we are is who we are," the teacher says. And now the children realize what she means

In The Lesson there is growth of person and identity, but what is Toni Cade Bambara trying to get across? What lesson is Bambara through Miss Moore, trying to teach these young children, and inevitably the reader? Miss Moore tries to get the kids to learn not only by asking questions, but figuring out the world on their own. Sylvia asks, [w]hat I want to know is,is how much a real boat costs? I figure a thousandd get you a yacht and day, and Miss Moore responds by saying, Why dont you check that out,and report back to the group (Bambara 308). Miss Moore is showing the kids another side of the world that they are not use to seeing. She does not just show them the other side of the world she wants them to find out about it, want it, and strive for it. She wants them to know that they deserve this side of the world if they work hard for it and try hard to obtain it. She is also trying to get the kids to recognize their potential. This comes with figuring out their identity and what type of person they are, and just because they are put at a disadvantage does not mean they have to stay at a disadvantage, but it is up to them to lift themselves out of the place they are in and with hard work, work their way to the top or whatever they want to pursue. A critic Martha M. Veatrice states that, Miss Moore wants to radicalize the young, explaining the nature of poverty by taking her charges from their slums to visit Fifth Avenue stores, providing cutting-edge experience for the children, making them question their acceptance of their lot. (Veatrice 155-71) There are stages of learning that Sylvia goes through. At first she seems as stubborn as a mule and towards the end she separates herself from the group and grows as a person and individual. Martha Veatrice talks about how the characters in Bambaras story go through stages of learning. She lists five stages, which are beginner, apprentice, journeyman, artisan, and expert. Sylvia grows profusely in just one day. She is a beginner in Veatrices five levels in the beginning of the day and a journeyman towards the end of the day. This is only the third level of growth in Veatrices five levels, but Sylvia still has much more growing and learning to experience at her young age, and Miss Moore knows what she is capable of no matter how stubborn Sylvia seems. Sylvia after stepping on Sugars foot for her insubordination says, She shuts up, and Miss Moore looks at me, sorrowfully Im thinking. And something weird is goin on, I can feel it in my chest. Anybody else learn anything today? Looking dead at me. (Bambara 310) Miss Moore knows what Sylvia is capable of, and also knows that she is very intelligent and can learn a lesson through this experience. In The Lesson there is growth within the person and also growth in the characters identity. Sylvia is just a journeyman so she is still trying to figure out her identity and what type of person she is, but within her identity and qualities she seems to figure out that she is a very

strong individual whose persistence and indomitable spirit will get her to where ever she wants to go, aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin (Bambara 310).

Sylvia is a tough girl throughout the story. She truly understands the lesson, and this knowledge creates an epiphany in her. She learns the lesson of class inequality and unfairness in spite of herself. In the beginning, Sylvia considers Ms. Moore an enemy. She exists to interfere with her summer days by providing free "lessons" to the neighborhood children. Sylvia says that when Ms. Moore came around... And our parents would yank our heads into some kinda shape and crisp up our clothes so we'd be presentable for travel with Miss Moore, who always looked like she was going to church though she never did. Sylvia resents having to dress up to go with a woman that she did not like. However, her resentment does not extend beyond having to miss a childhood day in the streets. By the end of the story, she learns much more about the effect of her own lifestyle. She is even more resentful that her friends are beginning to learn this lesson as well, as evidenced by her friend's statement: "I think," say Sugar pushing me off her feet like she never done before cause I whip her ass in a minute, "that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?" She learns that there is a difference between rich and poor and that this different, while not being fair, is very real. As a child, Sylvia does not want to recognize her diminishing ability to dictate her life.

As Define the nature of the conflict between the narrator Sylvia and Miss Moore in "The Lesson."an intelligent young woman, she has to. In Toni Cade Bambara's short story "The Lesson," the nature of the conflict between the narrator Sylvia and Miss Moore lies in their understanding of the role that socioeconomic class plays in their lives. Many children in the neighborhood and their families do not accept Miss Moore as "one of them." Miss Moore is obviously educated and the neighbors view her as a threat. Sylvia feels this way also, and as a result she becomes defensive whenever Miss Moore is around. Miss

Moore on the other hand wants to teach the children about their situation so that they can strive for something better. During the trip to F. A. O. Schwartz, Miss Moore attempts to teach the children about the realities of socioeconomic class and how it affects their lives. Sylvia is angry when her friend Sugar answers Miss Moore's questions and appears to have learned the lesson for the day. Sylvia, however, cannot quite comprehend the lesson and wants to think about it more later. So, the conflict between Sylvia and Miss Moore lies in the ignorance that surrounds the reality of the divisive nature of socioeconomic class. Posted by cetaylorplfd on February 26, 2010 at 2:37 AM (Answer #1)

What is the theme of the short story "The Lesson"?

In my view the theme goes beyond the fact that children already understand the worth of moneythat the toys are expensive and beyond their reach. The storys theme is the lesson that Miss Moore teaches them and Silvias willingness to absorb that and do something about it. Sugar best articulates this lesson at the end of the story, saying I think that this is not much of a democracy .Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, dont it? Indeed Miss Moore brought them to the toy store to learn just that--to understand that the economic limitations of their own lives are political and racist, that their lives could be other than what they are. Silvia, however, is too proud to acknowledge that, and decides to use the $4.00 she has to buy junk food. Yet, she says at the end, as she races off with her friend, Aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin. While ostensibly she means Sugar, whom she is racing, she also means the larger world, namely the white world she has seen at the toy store. That is the lesson, the theme: a person needs to get outside her limited world to see what it is in relation to everything else, and then decide what her values and goals should be. Whether or not Silvia actually learns this and does something about it were not quite sure. After all, she says she needs to think this day through.

There are three main themes readily discernible in The Lesson: Poverty and Wealth, Race, and Resistance Poverty and WealthThe power of poverty is strong and its pull is powerful and difficult to overcome, whereas wealth, when used to the degree of flaunting what one has in the faces of those less fortunate causes more harm still. Racewhile not a hit you in the face theme, the tinges of race are there as everyone in Sylvias world is African American. Resistanceresisting racism is a main theme used by Bambara, who, through her writing, make an effort to empower the African-American community.

The link below carries much more detailed information. Hope this helps. Brenda Posted by brendawm on July 25, 2007 at 10:48 PM (Answer #3)

What is the significance of the last line of the story ?

The last line of "The Lesson" is "But ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin." This has a few closely related meanings. First, of course, the local and literal meaning: the narrator (Sylvia) isn't going to let Sugar beat her at running, no matter what. Second, and more importantly, Sylvia has learned a more general lesson through the events of the story. She isn't going to let anyone beat her, which also means, she's not going to accept being poor, or being considered second class in any way. Sylvia has reached a point where she's committing to shaping her own destiny. That's the biggest lesson of the story. Posted by gbeatty on March 23, 2009 at 10:24 AM (Answer #1)

How can I make my thesis statement stronger?

When Miss Moore, a college graduate, arrived on Sylvias block talking about the importance of education, Sylvia tuned her out because she viewed her as boring and critical but Sylvia soon sees after that, the light that Miss Moore was trying to shine on her.

Whether advice is received or rejected can often depend upon the manner in which it is conveyed. Sylvia's initial rejection of the advice offered by Miss Moore was largely due to the critical nature in which it was conveyed by Miss Moore. After some retrospection, Sylvia came to realize that the advice offered by Miss Moore was in fact in her best interest.