As individuals we have an utter compulsion to better ourselves, and the instinctual belief of a better tomorrow. In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, protagonist Sylvia and friends are introduced to a new way of living and naïvely forced to perceive the world in a whole new aspect, therefore stripped of what they once knew. Entering this unfamiliar world, they are exposed to what they could only dream of, delighted by their surroundings, Sylvia and her posse could not help but notice the significant difference between their customary day and the extravagant lives the people they meet in their journey are accustomed to. Angered at this reality, yet slightly bitter by the idea of their exclusion from this society, Sylvia must
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Kate Wright discusses that, “This is exactly what Miss Moore wants to hear, but it is no more than Sylvia has figured out. On the train ride home she calculates what $35, the cost of a clown that has caught her attention, would mean to her family, and she wonders, ‘Who are these people who spend that much on performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kind work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?” (Wright 3). In this scene we see Sylvia question society, and the factor as to why she has to denied of the life she so much desires and her stubborn unlikeliness to stay excluded. Upon their arrival back home we end where we started. Miss Moore brings her lesson to a close asking what the children have learned for the day, and Miss Moore is “delighted to hear Sylvia cousin sugar say’ ‘You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs…. I think…that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue of happiness means an equal crack of the dough, don’t it?’” (Cartwright 62). This of course is what Miss Moore want to here, but also it is no more than what Sylvia has deciphered. In the hope for something more than Sugar’s lesson, Miss Moore looks directly at Sylvia asks the climatic question of the story “anybody learn anything else today” (6). Sylvia, refusing to give Miss Moore the satisfaction of an answers walks away. With Sugar who has stated the days’ lesson, can’t think nothing but spend the four dollar left from the cab earlier that day. “We start down the block and she gets ahead which is O.K by me because I’m going to the West End and then over the Drive to think this day through. She can run if she want to and even run faster. But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 6). This last paragraph
Kate Wright discusses that, “This is exactly what Miss Moore wants to hear, but it is no more than Sylvia has figured out. On the train ride home she calculates what $35, the cost of a clown that has caught her attention, would mean to her family, and she wonders, ‘Who are these people who spend that much on performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kind work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?” (Wright 3). In this scene we see Sylvia question society, and the factor as to why she has to denied of the life she so much desires and her stubborn unlikeliness to stay excluded. Upon their arrival back home we end where we started. Miss Moore brings her lesson to a close asking what the children have learned for the day, and Miss Moore is “delighted to hear Sylvia cousin sugar say’ ‘You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs…. I think…that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue of happiness means an equal crack of the dough, don’t it?’” (Cartwright 62). This of course is what Miss Moore want to here, but also it is no more than what Sylvia has deciphered. In the hope for something more than Sugar’s lesson, Miss Moore looks directly at Sylvia asks the climatic question of the story “anybody learn anything else today” (6). Sylvia, refusing to give Miss Moore the satisfaction of an answers walks away. With Sugar who has stated the days’ lesson, can’t think nothing but spend the four dollar left from the cab earlier that day. “We start down the block and she gets ahead which is O.K by me because I’m going to the West End and then over the Drive to think this day through. She can run if she want to and even run faster. But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 6). This last paragraph