The Lesson By Toni C. Bambara

Society is living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values. Within society, social class is present. Social class is broken down into the rich and the poor. The rich are the powerful class who control others through wealth. The poor are less successful with only miniscule opportunities in society. In “The Lesson,” Toni C. Bambara presents the protagonist Sylvia in the Harlem ghetto during the 1960’s. Bambara illustrates the unfairness of socioeconomic status through her development of character, setting, and symbol. The short story is told through the protagonist Sylvia’s prospective. Sylvia is a sassy, energetic, African-American girl who is confined to the Harlem ghetto. We learn quickly that Sylvia likes to resist authority and the educational lessons of Miss Moore. Miss Moore is no ordinary Harlem teacher, she is a college educated woman who is trying to give back to her community. A college degree is almost unheard of during this time period especially for a woman. Miss Moore is viewed as the antagonist of the story, or at least from Sylvia's viewpoint. This is speculated because Miss Moore was not allowing the kids to have fun, but rather trying to teach them educational lessons. As the short story develops we come to see that Miss Moore was actually a mentor to Sylvia and the …show more content…
A person can put in countless hours of time and hard work; but without opportunity, oneself will never accomplish climbing up the social ladder. An immense amount of young adults will not be able to attend college because of limited opportunity with not being able to pay for a college education. Unlike the Haves, the Have Not’s have to manage their money more intelligently. The Have Not’s cannot simply support themselves and/or their family with ridiculous spending habits. Once more demonstrating the struggle of moving up the social ladder in