Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson

“The Lesson” is a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara. This story tells about the effects that social inequality can have on children. It also goes to show that race and financial situations can help motivate children to make a better future for themselves. It is a story about a young African-American girl named Sylvia and her growing understanding of class inequality. The children’s educator Miss Moore introduces the facts of social inequality to the underprivileged group of children, of whom Sylvia, the main character, is the most important. Sugar, Fat Butt, Junebug, Flyboy, Rosie, and Sylvia think of Miss Moore as an unrequested educator who bores them, and Sylvia would rather do anything than listen to Miss Moore give lectures. Deep down Sylvia knows that she is underprivileged but it starts to bother her tremendously when Miss Moore introduces her to the world of the privileged. In “The Lesson,” Miss Moore sets out on a mission to teach an underprivileged group of kids an important lesson by showing them the conflict of class inequality. In the story Miss Moore
The kids are amused by the toys in the store including a clown that Sylvia thinks is overpriced. She is mocking the toys to the other kids but in reality she is really envious of the materialistic things that the privileged get to indulge in. Sylvia knows that if she went to her mom asking for a thirty-five dollar birthday clown, her mom would laugh in her face: "`You wanna who that costs what?' she'd say, cocking her head to the side to get a better view of the hole in my head(50).” As Sylvia continues to encounter the material wealth represented by the toys, her frustration becomes a mask for increasing feelings of jealousy. Initially reacting to Miss Moore's teachings, Sylvia denies the importance and truth of her words: "And then she gets to the part about how we all poor and live in the slums, which I don't