In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara we read about the kids’ visit to FAO Schwarz and their experience there. We understand that those kids come from a poor neighborhood. They went to FAO Schwarz with the new neighbor who they hated, Miss Moore. Miss Moore believes in education for the young generation, which is why she took them to this store, to let them see and experience something that they never see in their neighborhood. The goal of this trip was to teach them about money, democracy, and equal chances for all citizens. How rich people can enjoy the possibility of buying luxury goods, in this case, expensive toys. The two characters I decided to compare between are Sugar and Sylvia. Sylvia is talking about her and Sugar as one team during the story, they both were “the only ones just right”, and they both hated Miss Moore together. That is why it was such a shock to Sylvia when Sugar decided to respond to Miss Moore’s question after their experience at the store. It seems like Sylvia is more stubborn and is not open to new people or views. On the other hand, Sugar, who suppose to be on Sylvia’s same page was suddenly answered Miss Moore’s question of what they think about the trip to Schwarz.
Daily Archives: September 15, 2022
The two characters from Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” that I’ll talk about are Sylvia and Miss Moore. Sylvia is shown to be an arrogant person who doesn’t mind expressing herself, speaking fluently and unhindered, singing the truths if necessary, and freely just as she also seemed to dislike Miss. Moore. Sylvia got a different experience compared to the others as she was angry and distressed visiting FAO Schwarz because the prices in the store were close to what it might cost to feed some families meaning they were very expensive this showed the Economic inequality within their society. In the end, she ended up being an optical person to improve her life. In addition, Miss Moore is an educated person, a black woman who sought improvement for the children and her understanding of Sylvia’s thoughts towards her. However, the trip to FAO Schwarz was definitely an eye-opening experience for both Sylvia and all the children and it really gave them what society is like for different groups of people this was something that really made her see what Miss. Moore shared with her the same point of view on the unbalanced system in their society.
The characters I want us to focus in is Ms. Moore and Sylvia, In “the lesson” by Tony Cade Bambara” e can see Ms. Moore as a very intelligent and educated person, she is first introduce and is compare like a old weird woman, but than as the kids meet her, We get to really know her and she is a well educated person and a person who sees society and others things their true color’s, Sylvia, is a girl who we know as a person who thinks different than the other kids, she Is also smart her way, she looks out for herself and she ha her own skills, We can compare both there experience as a “way of saying what in the world is this, ” or “Is this society crazy” as angry too because they can realize how those who are rich can, or are crazy enough to spend more than 5 dollars and more to buy a toy, In my opinion, they think the same way because Ms. Moore wanted the kids to know how bad is the society and how those just who have money can send money on whatever even if it’s nonsense. Sylvia is angry because she can’t believe or does not like the way those who have money spend money on whatever they want and do not actually see how hard is to get or seen money, like those who do not have as much money as them.
The characters I want to focus on are Mercedes and Sylvia. Mercedes is a very clear outlier to all the children in this story. Everyone else had some sort of reaction to the toy store. Every other child was in some state of disbelief. She was the only one that walked in and was not shocked by the amount of money that all the toys cost. She treated it like it was something that she was used to seeing, that was normal to her. Mercedes seems to know more about the items than the other children like she knows what the paper weight does. Her main response to the whole experience was when she casually mentioned she wanted to come again when she got birthday money. Now Sylvia had the complete opposite response. Her was one of shock and more anger. She seems to almost understand the point that Miss Moore is trying to show her, but Sylvia is having a hard time accepting it. It angers her that other people get to have these extremely expensive toys, and have the money to so causally spend 1,000 dollars on a sailboat. I’m sure that it is also worse that one of her classmates gets to have this kind of life and Sylvia doesn’t.
Miss Moore’s character is presented as a kind, good-hearted, educated black woman that wants to help the people in her community, specifically the children. This alone brings about a sense of jealousy within her community because of how she carries herself and the life that she chooses to live. In the story we are told that the people in the community talk about her and not in a good way, she chooses to do things differently such as not going to church and throughout history we see how important religion is in a black community. But that doesn’t stop Miss Moore from living her life and sharing her knowledge with the kids, she still remains kind and this shows that she really does have a good heart. Sylvia is one of the kids that Miss Moore extends her knowledge with but they don’t always see eye-to-eye because of Sylvia’s pride. Sylvia is shown as this independent kid that won’t hold her tongue back on anyone. But as we get to know her character more she lets her guard down a bit and she starts to see the lesson that Miss Moore wants to teach them.The trip to FAO Schwarz was definitely an eye opening experience for all of the kids and it really showed them what society is like for different groups of people. Before even entering the store the kids noticed how the people around them dressed from the way adults in their community dressed, it was more luxurious and expensive. Miss Moore blended in well with these people but the kids were so amazed by everything. The lesson that Miss Moore taught them after being in the store was an eye-opener for all because the money that people spend on useless stuff in that store could be spent […]
Ms. Moore’s character juxtaposes the narrator, Sylvia’s point of view in a lot of ways. It was done purposely to show the main theme of the story. Class and status is the common theme throughout “The Lesson”, Toni Cade Bambara uses both characters to show their similarities yet differences. Ms. Moore is depicted as a put-together wealthy educated woman. Not only does she have a college degree but she tries to educate the children in their community. It’s also alluded to that she is unmarried and doesn’t go to church. Sylvia is the opposite. She’s a young girl who is shown to be very outspoken and rowdy. When they go to the store, Ms.Moore is very calm and collected, watching the way the children react to being in the store. Sylvia before heading into the store was very headstrong and confident but after entering was timid. She felt shameful being in the store with such expensive toys far out of her budget. Everyone else in the store is acting unphased, being regular shoppers. Ms.Moore took them there on purpose to learn about money. FAO Schwarz represents what Ms.Moore achieved in her life. She can blend in amongst the people in the store while Sylvia starts to understand that the way her family lives compared to people that can shop there is completely different. Bambara uses things we couldn’t imagine being privileges that Sylvia and the other children don’t have such as a desk and stationery in your home. Both characters are very intelligent but have very different ways of living. Ms.Moore’s proper socially acceptable way of living clashes with Sylvia’s childhood rebellion. In the end, both of them have the upper hand, both having the intelligence to understand the way the world works and where they stand in society.
