Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson,” illustrates the unequal distribution of wealth in America which causes the protagonist, Sylvia, to lose her innocence and reevaluate the social class spectrum she lives in. Miss Moore, who is the only person with a college degree in the area, wants to teach Sylvia and the other children a life-changing lesson in an outing to a toy store. From the group of children, Sylvia shows she is a naïve and stubborn child who does not value anyone’s opinion. However, she becomes a different character who changes perspective on the economic world. In “The Lesson,” Miss Moore tries to inform Sylvia, Sugar, and six other children a valuable lesson about the social inequality between the rich and the poor but
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In the train back home Sylvia thinks about a clown she saw in the toy store which was thirty-five dollars. She thinks about how thirty-five dollars can do many opportunities for her family like get new bunk beds, visit grandad in the country, pay for the rent, and piano bill too. She asks herself “what kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it,” because she does not understand how other people can easily spend thirty-five dollars on a clown or one thousand dollars on a sailboat. When they get back to their homes, Miss Moore asks the group what they have learned and Sugar mentions “I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs” which upsets Sylvia because she feels shame and does not want to acknowledge the hard truth. Miss Moore then looks at Sylvia hoping to get a respond from her but instead walks away from the group. She wants to reflect on what she has become aware of from the trip to the toy store, so she goes “to the West End and then over to the Drive to think this day through” instead of going to Hascombs to get snacks with Sugar. Sylvia now recognizes she is poor and realizes she must wake up and see what opportunities are out there. She matures into a different character and thinks to herself “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” because from that moment on, she will be doing everything she can to escape her
In the train back home Sylvia thinks about a clown she saw in the toy store which was thirty-five dollars. She thinks about how thirty-five dollars can do many opportunities for her family like get new bunk beds, visit grandad in the country, pay for the rent, and piano bill too. She asks herself “what kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it,” because she does not understand how other people can easily spend thirty-five dollars on a clown or one thousand dollars on a sailboat. When they get back to their homes, Miss Moore asks the group what they have learned and Sugar mentions “I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs” which upsets Sylvia because she feels shame and does not want to acknowledge the hard truth. Miss Moore then looks at Sylvia hoping to get a respond from her but instead walks away from the group. She wants to reflect on what she has become aware of from the trip to the toy store, so she goes “to the West End and then over to the Drive to think this day through” instead of going to Hascombs to get snacks with Sugar. Sylvia now recognizes she is poor and realizes she must wake up and see what opportunities are out there. She matures into a different character and thinks to herself “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” because from that moment on, she will be doing everything she can to escape her