Concepcion Arellano Discussion 4

When Bambara made Sylvia the narrator of his story, he was able to immerse us through a child’s perspective. He highlighted another side to the themes an AI generator would normally write about. Her encounter with Ms. Moore is not viewed as an opportunity to learn but as an intruder imposing her condescending opinions on them. Throughout the narrative, Sylvia expresses her disapproval of Ms. Moore based on other adults’ views. She describes Ms. Moore’s unwillingness to dress casually and wear makeup as another display of her superiority compared to the rest of her community. We can see Ms. Moore’s intentions in trying to educate the children, but from Sylvia’s perspective, we do not see those intentions come across clearly. This moment can be seen during the story when Sylvia refuses to discuss her reaction to the toy store with Ms. Moore. Sylvia struggles with her conflicting feelings of growing awareness over the social inequality she is faced with as a child. Bambara’s use of Sylvia’s point of view forces us to confront social inequality in the same way she was forced to face it through confusion and self-reflection. Through Sylvia’s narration, we also see another type of injustice when children are left to navigate these inequalities alone.