The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara
"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara is a poignant short story that explores themes of socioeconomic disparity, education, and the awakening of consciousness in children. The narrative is centered around Sylvia, a young girl growing up in a low-income neighborhood in New York City, who grapples with her identity and views on wealth. Under the guidance of Miss Moore, a college-educated African American woman, Sylvia and her peers embark on a field trip to the upscale FAO Schwarz toy store, an experience designed to expose them to a world of affluence that starkly contrasts with their own.
Throughout their visit, the children encounter exorbitantly priced items that challenge their understanding of value and privilege. Sylvia's initial bravado is tested as she confronts feelings of shame and anger regarding the disparities in wealth. The story culminates in a moment of introspection when Sylvia is urged to reflect on the societal structures that allow such inequalities to exist. Ultimately, "The Lesson" serves as a powerful commentary on the impact of class and the importance of awareness in shaping one’s perspective on personal and collective realities. The story invites readers to consider the implications of economic injustice and the roles that education and experience play in personal growth and awareness.
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The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara
First published: 1972
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: The 1970's
Locale: New York City
Principal Characters:
Sylvia , an African American girlSugar , her cousin and closest friendMiss Moore , an adult who helps neighborhood children
The Story
Sylvia, who narrates the story, is a young girl living in a poor area of New York City. She and her friends are developing their strategies to cope with life as they know it. She has adopted the pose of a know-it-all who can figure out things for herself, and she tells herself that she resents and has no use for Miss Moore, the college-educated African American woman who frequently serves as a guide and unofficial teacher for the local children.
Miss Moore arranges a trip for Sylvia, Sugar, and six other children to go to the F. A. O. Schwarz toy store at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street. Miss Moore knows that this will be a new experience for the children, who have been isolated in their neighborhood, and that they will encounter items they have never seen, items that are far beyond their economic means. She wants the youngsters to learn that there is much more to the world than the slum area they know, and particularly for them to realize that wealth is unfairly and unequally distributed.
The emphasis on the relative value of money begins for Sylvia when Miss Moore gives her a five-dollar bill to pay the taxi fare to the store. Sylvia is told to include a 10 percent tip for the driver and return the change to Miss Moore. Sylvia gives the cab driver the fare of eighty-five cents but decides that she needs money more than he does and keeps not only the tip but the remainder of the money.
At the toy store, the children feel uneasy and out of place. Looking through the window, they are stunned by the products offered and by their high prices. Ronald sees what he recognizes as a microscope, for three hundred dollars, but neither he nor the others know what a microscope is used for or how it might fit their academic education or their future jobs. Rosie spots a chunk of glass with a price tag of $480. None of them knows what it is, even when Miss Moore says it is a paperweight. Only one of the children has a study area at home where she might have papers to scatter, so they do not understand the concept, much less why someone might want, or be able and willing to pay $480 for, a fancy glass paperweight. Another boy interrupts Miss Moore's explanations when he sees a toy sailboat priced at $1,195. The children cannot imagine who could spend so much money on the boat, especially because they think it would probably break or be stolen when they played with it. Even Sylvia is stunned at the price. She hesitates to go inside the store, feeling ashamed somehow, as though she does not belong here, despite her bravado that she can do anything she wants.
Inside, Sylvia becomes angry at the high prices. She wants to know who are these people who could spend a thousand dollars on toy sailboats and why she and her friends cannot. As Miss Moore takes the youngsters home, she asks them to think of what kind of society it is in which some people can spend more on a toy than others have to spend on food and housing. Sugar responds that it must not be much of a democracy because some people obviously do not have an equal opportunity to earn money. Sylvia feels Sugar has betrayed her by giving Miss Moore the satisfaction of an answer, and she walks away.
Sugar catches up with Sylvia, glad that they kept the rest of the money Miss Moore gave them for the taxi, and she suggests they spend it on sweets and potato chips. She starts to race Sylvia to the store, but Sylvia intends to go elsewhere in the city to think about what she has seen that day. Sugar and the others can do what they want, Sylvia concludes, "But ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin."
Bibliography
Alwes, Derek. "The Burden of Liberty: Choice in Toni Morrison's Jazz and Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters." African American Review 30, no. 3 (Fall, 1996): 353-365.
Bone, Martyn. "Capitalist Abstraction and the Body Politics of Place in Toni Cade Bambara's Those Bones Are Not My Child." Journal of American Studies 37, no. 2 (August, 2003): 229-246.
Butler-Evans, Elliott. Race, Gender, and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989.
Collins, Janelle. "Generating Power: Fission, Fusion, and Post Modern Politics in Bambara's The Salt Eaters." MELUS 21, no. 2 (Summer, 1996): 35-47.
Heller, Janet Ruth. "Toni Cade Bambara's Use of African American Vernacular English in 'The Lesson.'" Style 37, no. 3 (Fall, 2003): 279-293.
Kelley, Margot A. "'Damballah Is the First Law of Thermodynamics': Modes of Access to Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters." African American Review 27, no. 3 (Fall, 1993): 479-493.
Muther, Elizabeth. "Bambara's Feisty Girls: Resistance Narratives in Gorilla, My Love." African American Review 36, no. 3 (Fall, 2002): 447-459.