The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay - 1319 Words

Toni Cade Bambara addresses how knowledge is the means by which one can escape out of poverty in her story The Lesson. In her story she identifies with race, economic inequality, and literary epiphany during the early 1970’s. In this story children of African American progeny come face to face with their own poverty and reality. This realism of society’s social standard was made known to them on a sunny afternoon field trip to a toy store on Fifth Avenue. Through the use of an African American protagonist Miss Moore and antagonist Sylvia who later becomes the sub protagonist and White society the antagonist â€Å"the lesson† was ironically taught. Sylvia belong to a lower economic class, which affects her views of herself within highlights the†¦show more content†¦Also, the people who have influence on color people, that they are not qualify for higher education and good salary. As Martin Luther King Jr. said â€Å"Make a career of humanity. Commit your self to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in† ( ). Sylvia struggle in the communities makes her to be better person with the understand classism and the race. Also, makes her to fight for what she deserve. Also, to have high income and equal right she have to have higher education. Then she might will be able to change the view of classism and race in the communities. The economic issues in American society have major effect on young on young children basic needs. Young children do not understand the economic issues their families facing in today’s society. In the short story â€Å"The Lesson† the author addresses the reader regarding social and economic inequality in America. In America lower family are suffering the most because of their monthly income and cannot afford things their children’s wants. Therefore, lower family cannot afford the expens ive materials for their children because they have to think about their daily life styles. Also these lower families had difficult times affording clothing, food, house rents and other essentials. According to the article, â€Å"Children are especially vulnerable economicallyShow MoreRelatedThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara992 Words   |  4 PagesThe Lesson: Summary/Response In the story The Lesson, author Toni Cade Bambara shows us a view of life from a black girl who lives in a poverty-stricken community just outside of New York City. In the story, there is a teacher whom takes the responsibility of teaching Sylvia and her friend group important lessons not only for a better education but to better understand life in its entirety. I believe the story is used as a tool to teach others about the lack of education in our nation in the seventiesRead MoreThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara1552 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout the years knowledge and culture has been passed down within generations. Elders within the community often teach life lessons to the young adults growing up in the neighborhood. This idea still holds true today, especially in low-income communities. People from different socioeconomic backgrounds live different lifestyles they also have different opportunities made available to them. Because of this idea, people with a higher social stand ing have an advantage over those in lower classRead Morethe Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara1428 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Lesson† From The Mentor Whenever there is a civil rights movement going on, there are always 3 parties involved. One the Oppressor, second the Oppressed and lastly the Activist or the Mentor. The Activists usually always emerges from the Oppressed. That is when the Oppressed intellectuals feel that it’s time to standup to defend the identity of their people and make them strong enough to make a name of their own. This is what happened during the early 20th century within the African AmericanRead MoreThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara968 Words   |  4 PagesThere is a lesson in every situation no matter if you choose to accept it or not. A lesson can sometime guide you in the right path that is needed in your life or maybe it can just be for a certain situation. In the short story â€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Cade Bambara, she relates teaching a life changing lesson to the character Sylvia. Sylvia is a very strong willed young lady who is challenged with poverty in her neighborhood. The story begins with Miss Moore, an educated black woman who moves in theRead MoreThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara1429 Words   |  6 PagesUpon reading The Lesson, by Toni Cade Bambara, the reader cannot help but feel empathy towards the narrator Sylvia and her friends, as they are introduced to the realization of unfairness distribution of wealth in society, the diverse democracy. The lesson is taught by a lady named, Miss Moore, who moves into Sylvia’s neighborhood block. Miss Moore is a college educated women who shows the reality of the economic inequality to Sylvia and her friends by taking them on a field trip to a fancy toy storeRead MoreThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara850 Words   |  4 Pagesideas into the readers’ minds. Readers often begin reading a work with a biased opinion of the contents of the story. The superficial theme of a story is obvious, but the less obvious theme can have the most powerful message. In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story, â€Å"The Lesson,† the apparent t heme is poverty and wealth, but the true theme is the misapprehension of everything not being as it seems. The first physical description of Miss Moore gives the reader the impression that she is a woman of littleRead MoreThe Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara638 Words   |  3 Pagesthe hardest because the kids just want to play, goof around and don’t listen. Elementary teachers have hard time teaching young uneducated students just like Miss Moore with her uneducated children from the neighborhood, in the story â€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Cade Bambara. Miss Moore teaches the students how to take the first step toward a better education just like elementary teachers, her teaching method were to show how the upper class lived in comparison to the children but she could have though themRead MoreThe Lesson, By Toni Cade Bambara881 Words   |  4 Pagesthe story ‘The Lesson’, Sylvia and her friends’ receives a chance to take a look at the upper side of town and compare how the two communities differ from each other. The author uses social conflict to explain the r acial and social divide between the white and black community. In the story, the reader sees how social classes effect how adults and even children see the world. The author, Toni Cade Bambara, compares how blacks and whites live these times. In the story, â€Å"The Lesson†, a woman by theRead MoreThe Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara1346 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Cade Bambara is not just about a sassy, defiant, ungrateful poor girl that is out of place in an overpriced expensive toy store. â€Å"The Lesson† is a short story about a young black girl who is struggling with her increasing awareness of class inequality. When Sylvia’s new neighbor, Miss. Moore, a smart college educated woman introduces the reality of social inequality to Sylvia and her group of friends, they become cynical. Sylvia has always known in the back of her mind that sheRead MoreThe Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara1830 Words   |  8 PagesThe Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a short story set in the inner part of New York City that gives the reader an opportunity to briefly see into the lives of children living devoid of wealth and education. It takes place in the early seventies, following the civil rights move ment and during a time when the imbalance of wealth in terms of race was immense. Bamabara, through the use of narrative point of tone, symbols, setting and characterization, brings out and develops what I believe to be the