Ann-Marie Higgins Discussion 4

The two characters from “The Lesson” I’ll be comparing their response to the experience of the FAO Schwarz toy store is Sylvia and Mercedes. Sylvia was taken out of her comfort zone, the ghetto, to get a first look at what the different experiences in the upper class could feel like. Sylvia seems to be a kid that speaks her mind with no apology behind it. Sylvia was exposed to how minorities and the more privileged were treated, which was unfair and unequal. An example from the story states that Ms. Moore expresses how money isn’t divided equally in this country. And I agree with her statement from centuries ago and still today, minorities, especially women and women with children, are underpaid. It also goes by where you live; some women barely make the minimum wage and make ends meet for their families. Sylvia questioned, “who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for a toy sailboat? What kind of work do they do and how do they live, and how come we aren’t in it? Once the community you are living in is underdeveloped immediately, you are looked at differently. You are paid the same way and looked at the same. The trip Sylvia was experiencing could be a learning lesson for her and her friends, for them to take their schoolwork seriously and attend college to have some degree so that people don’t look down on her because she is from the ghetto. After all, it’s not where you’re from; it’s where you’re going. Sylvia’s demeanor and outspokenness can be a future advocate for her community. Sylvia has the power to lead her destination if she takes all the pieces of advice she got from Ms. Moore.

Mercedes didn’t feel how the other children were feeling, especially Sylvia. It seems that Mercedes had more privilege than the others, but she wasn’t the type of child that bragged or boosted. Mercedes’s experience at the store didn’t bother her; she seemed to have a family that could afford the price shown in the store. As stated in the story, I have a box of stationary on my desk and a picture of my cat. My godmother bought the stationary and the desk.” Mercedes is more fortunate than the rest of the children. Ms. Moore wanted the children to understand how the country is divided and what change they could make to get out of the underprivileged community by attending college could be the first step. Ms. Moore also wanted the children to learn a life experience lesson about the upper class and the disadvantaged community. The story shows us how poverty is a hell of a thing, and the upper class continues to bloom.