Sylvia the main character and first person narrator of the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, learns a lesson early in life after a trip to a toy store in Manhattan. Sylvia is an arrogant, know it all child. However, after the trip to the toy store Sylvia has a small change in her attitude and becomes more open minded. Sylvia is a young underprivileged African American girl, around the age of ten. Sylvia is stubborn as a mule, arrogant as only she can be and believes she knows it all. Sylvia is also sassy, bossy and aggressive to a point where one will consider her a bully. We see this when she talks about beating some Indian kids. She is also very sarcastic, which she uses to protect herself from her insecurities and from the
