Economic Inequality In The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” is not about a teacher taking her students on a playful field trip to one of the most expensive toy stores and making them feel out of place, but it holds much deeper meaning and value. “The Lesson” holds up as a social interpretation about an African American girl’s struggle of her newly awareness of the economic inequality that surrounds her. The major theme of the story is to educate the young children exactly what life has to offer and to educate them on how to get an “Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough” (Bambara, 1099). Money strongly controls how people view themselves and the lack thereof supports the economic inequality in America’s society today. The characters play …show more content…
And she was black as hell, cept for her feet, which were fish-white and spooky” (1094) from the children which already sets the tone that the children do not care for Miss Moore or what she has to teach them. Miss Moore is confident about her looks, which is why she wears an afro, caring, always presentable, and sagacious. “She’d been to college and said it was the only right that she should take responsibility for the young ones’ education, and she not even related by marriage or blood.” (1095) Most teachers go to work simply for a paycheck in today’s society and it becomes less and less about the education he/she is supposed to be providing. We are told Miss Moore has attended college and as a result makes good money and hopes for a better future for her students. She appears to be the type of woman that has experienced the consequences of very lesson she is trying to teach the children. And this is one the main reasons Miss Moore introduces the hard facts of the social inequality that surrounds this distracted group of kids from the …show more content…
Still, Flyboy, Fat Butt, Junebug, Sugar, and Rosie view Miss Moore as an unwanted educator and they rather be doing pretty much anything but listening to her. “… I 'm really hating this nappy-head bitch and her goddamn college degree. I 'd much rather go to the pool or to the show where it 's cool” (1095) represents an unusual dislike of authority. We can tell from the beginning that Sylvia has a mind of her own and thinks she knows it all, “Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were the only ones just right…” (1094) Sylvia, at a young age, already has her own perceptions of the way the world works but knows deep down that she lives in poverty. Sylvia realizes that she is poor but she is comfortable with this information and it only bothers her when she comes face to face with the disadvantages of being poor and advantages to luxuries of the