Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson"
Theme in Bambara's "The Lesson"
Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" is a short work of fiction about a group of children in a working class African-American neighborhood who learn a valuable lesson. Through her descriptions and use of dialect, Bambara establishes the nature of her characters, especially the narrator, Sylvia, and the outsider, Miss Moore. Bambara then places the characters in a situation that showcases the chasm between the children, who live in poverty, and the world just blocks away from their homes on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The distinctions the author draws between her characters and those with money create the story's theme. Yet, Bambara does not let it rest there; she makes the message clear to readers that the children in the story can improve their lot in life.
The narrator and primary character is Sylvia. She is a young lady with an attitude as evidenced by her descriptions of other characters and her observations of the world around her. "Arrogant, sassy, and tough, with a vocabulary that might shock a sailor, Sylvia is also witty, bright, and vulnerable" (Hargrove). She appears to be a leader of the group of kids, but she is frequently in opposition to and critical of them. The characters called Mercedes and Big Butt take the brunt of the narrator's abuse.
Mercedes is interested in the finer things in life, which may be how she earned her nickname. Mercedes possesses "a box of stationery on (her) desk...There's a big rose on each sheet and the envelopes smell like roses" (Bambara 7). Sylvia mocks Mercedes...
For example, Sylvia takes offense when Miss Moore says they live in the slums. Bambara writes, "And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums which I don't feature. And I'm ready to speak on that, but she steps out in the street and hails two cabs just like that" (Bambara). Sylvia and her friends are not afraid to talk back to
Kate Chopin, author of "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin was born Kate O'Flaherty in 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri (Clarke 1). Chopin's mother was of French extraction and the young Kate grew up in a bilingual household. Chopin's household was also bicultural, encompassing both the cultures of north and south: both supporters of slavery and anti-slavery advocates lived in Missouri; Chopin's family kept slaves and her half-brother fought on
Coming of Age: Hard Lessons Learned in the Short Stories of Walker, Tan, And Bambara Coming of age themes are present in many short stories. The short stories "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan and like "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, are dependent upon a comparison between the values of old and young. All show the foolishness of parents and children in different ways and quite
Justice The singular theme that stands out in all three texts of The Stolen Party, The Garden Party and The Lesson is the negative impact of class distinctions. In Heker's The Stolen Party, we see the painful awakening to the realities of class distinction of young 9-year-old Rosaura who believes that she is completely accepted as a friend of Luciana, the daughter of her mother's employer. It is only when Senora
Miss Moore is trying to teach the children the value of a dollar. In today's society, that is a very tough lesson for our youth. Many teenagers think nothing of spending $175.00 on a pair of shoes. That is, until they have to actually pay for them themselves. Children need to learn from a young age: nothing is for free and one needs to work hard, go to school,
Teenagers usually exhibit a mixture of childishness and maturity as they evolve into adults. Often a striking event or experience will catalyze an adolescent's intellectual growth. Toni Cade Bambara's short story "The Lesson" fuses the dual themes of economic disparity with coming of age. A group of inner city minorities observe the exuberance of Fifth Avenue, triggering feelings of anger in the narrator. Sylvia, however, retains her self-centered childishness while
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