Week 4 Discussion

Miss Moore takes the children to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.” This was a high-end toy store, and she was curious to see how the kids felt about it. Sylvia and Mercedes are the two characters I’m going to compare in this narrative, which takes place in Harlem, New York. Mercedes differs from the other characters in that she appears to be mature than the other children in the narrative. Mercedes appears to have the financial means to purchase such pricey items, and she even claims that her parents would buy her anything if she asked for it. Mercedes also seems to have more comprehension than the other kids due to her social status even though she still lives in a poor neighborhood. Meanwhile, Sylvia recognizes and is irritated that individuals can buy these toys for the sheer joy of them, but her parents can do several things for the same cash. Miss More had given them a crucial lesson about social status and where they were in society in comparison to people who could buy those expensive toys, but Sylvia refused to accept it. This reading also emphasizes that miss Moore is attempting to persuade the kids too take action that will have a positive impact on society. This would necessitate they’re standing out and speaking up, to be unique.

Flyboy and Mercedes. Flyboy appears to be poor in the story where he has mentioned not having a home. In contrast, Mercedes appears to be wealthy where she has boasted about her father giving her gifts. As they arrive at the toy store, Flyboy pointed out a toy sailboat that costs over $1,100. In this scenario, Mercedes begin to boast once again about her father’s financial gift on spending things for his daughter, “might buy it for her.” Flyboy, on another hand, doesn’t have many expressions, yet is aware of how everything is expensive in the store. This gives readers a gist of Flyboy’s character as a modest character when it comes to money.

In the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the 2 characters that stand out the most in the story are Sylvia and Sugar. The reason Sylvia stands out the most is because she shows in the story that she does not want to be part of the wrong doings. In page 5, it says I just couldn’t go through with the plan. Which was for me to run up to the altar and do a tap dance while Sugar played the nose flute and messed around in the holy water”. This shows she acts sort of like an adult due to that she does not want to do anything wrong. The reason why Sugar is another character stands out is because in the story she is pictured as a girl who characterizes herself as someone who wants everything to herself. In the story it says “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very serious like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays. “I beg your pardon,” say Miss Moore, and we fall out. So she leads us around the windows of the toy store and me and Sugar screamin, “This is mine, that’s mine, I gotta have that, that was made for me, I was born for that”.

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Sugar are a lot alike in ways, however, Sugar shows a little bit of character development at the end of the story much to the dismay of Sylvia. Towards the beginning, when the crew first arrives at the toy store, they are all nervous. Sylvia even explains how she was tentative about going into the store. One can assume from her words that she felt as though someone of her social status didn’t belong in a store where toys are sold for over $300. She felt out of place and even looked to her friends to enter first. Eventually, they all managed to muster enough courage to enter the store. Sylvia shows in the story a sort of resentment for upper-class citizens who can afford these types of toys and she thinks that Sugar feels the same way, however, towards the end of the story Sugar surprises Sylvia by not making fun of the rich people, but by trying to understand why the economy is the way it is and why it is so unfair. This angers Sylvia and she even says that she is “disgusted by Sugar’s treachery” demonstrating the different mindsets that Sylvia and Sugar have at the end of the trip.

Sylvia and Sugar are the two characters in this story that stand out to me the most. They serve as two sides of the same coin. Sylvia even after the field trip to F.A.O. Schwartz is unfazed by the experience. Sugar on the other hand seems as if she has seen more of the world now and wants some semblance of independence. At the very least she won’t stand for Sylvia attempting to silence her opinions or thoughts about things that they don’t agree on. Though yes at first they both would rather be at the pool instead of wearing starchy clothing and being forced to behave in a certain manner on 5th avenue but as the story progresses things slightly change. While they both think deeply about this new world they were just shown. Sylvia rejects it knowing that she will most likely never make enough to afford any of those toys and Sugar comes off as thinking about what the future could hold. Only shown in how Sugar refused to be shut down by Sylvia, that in itself being something new shows the change in Sugar from her experiences of the day.

I would pick Sylvia and Sugar because they are the most appearance in the story and two and the first two out of three mentioned first. In the Schwarz toy store Sylvia(main character) was the first one who read the “Hand-crafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars.” From my understanding, Syliva is like a leader in this team(Sugar, Mercedes, Flyboy, Junebug, Rosie Giraffe, and etc…) because in the scene Miss Moore hands Sylvia the cash and ask her to pay the driver “five-dollar bill and tells me to calculate 10 percent tip for the driver” this tells you that Miss Moore trusted Sylvia like a child adult. Sugar is a very funny girl because her first strong appearance was in the Schwarz toy store to saying if we can steal “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very serious like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays.” a very funny and unforgettable line, shows she’s still a child.

While reading The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara the two characters I chose to compare their experience by visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store were Sugar and Miss Moore. Sugars experience compared to Miss Moore was very different because once Sugar arrived to the toy store she began to create ideas on how she can be able to steal certain things from the store and get away with it meanwhile Miss Moore is the instructor and she’s trying to keep careful of what they do so that they do not get in trouble. While Sugar was going around the store screaming at the toys she wants very bad Miss Moore caught up to her trying to make sure she was not doing anything she’s not supposed to but Sugar did not want to hear any of It and hoped she would leave her sight already. The comparison I got from the two characters was that Sugar was just trying to cause trouble and Miss Moore was going around trying to stop it from happening.

In, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Sugar have two very opposite reactions to the toy store.  Sugar comes to a very astute realization about the inequalities of democracy. This can first be seen in her line, “Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it” (Bambara 6). In this line Sugar begins to understand the reality of the difference between the rich and the poor. She also shows an openness to learning that her peers do not have. Sylvia learned in a more emotional way which is seen right before they entered the shop. She begins to have a deep-seated feeling of shame and disgust while in the shop. This feeling allows her to understand the line between her and the kids who can actually shop at the store. Her inferiority also comes out as she starts to take out her feelings on her friends.

In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Rosie Girafee both had two different point of views upon arriving the FAO Schawrz toy store. When everyone first arrived to the doors of the toy store with Miss Moore, Sylvia was nervous about entering, waiting for sugar to lead the way. Meanwhile, Rosie Girafee shoves her way in along with Mercedes and Big Butt. Contiuing the short story, the kids are admiring the toys, knowingly they are unable to afford them. Sylvia becomes jealous over the fact that Sugar runs a finger over the boat, wanting to even strike her or anyone in general. Meanwhile, Rosie Girafee is looking at the price tags on the different items in the shop and claiming white people are crazy due to the fact that the prices were so immensely high at the toy shop. Rosie left only skimming the surface of the real issue.

In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the two characters I choose are Sylvia and Q.T. The themes are talked about wealth and puberty. Sylvia is the narrator of the story. She is strongly affected by her surroundings and has the capacity to see the truth in things, for example, in the way her family treats Aunt Gretchen. Despite her ability to see the truth in things, she also acts in a dishonest manner; she speaks of wanting to steal hair ribbons and money from the West Indian kids, she doesn’t give the cab driver a tip, preferring to keep the money for herself, and she doesn’t give the change from the cab ride back to Miss Moore. Sylvia gets very angry during the trip to F. A. O. Schwarz, even though she claims not to know why. This anger that people could spend so much money on useless items leads her to speak to Miss Moore about her feelings, which surprises even her. The second character is Q. T. He is the youngest and quietest child in the group. His major contribution to the discussion is to openly long for the expensive sailboat and declare the unspoken—that F. A. O. Schwarz is a store for rich people.

Choose two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and compare their response to the experience of visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store. In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, there are two characters and their response of visiting the F.A.O Shwartz toy store that stuck out. Those characters are Sugar and Sylvia.  Sugar and Sylvia stood out to me because of their close friendship and separate attitudes of their experience at the toy store. Sylvia is more timid about the experience then Sugar is, Sugar was able to touch the toy boat, angering Sylvia because it is not something she can bring herself to do. She feels ashamed to be there, even when she tells herself that she has no reason to be. Sugar is more open to the experience then Sylvia is. I kind of want to say that Sylvia is more on the why thought and Sugar could be on the how? Sylvia is in her thoughts and to herself, maybe even “too big” to say anything, whereas, Sugar wants to know and can let her thoughts ne known.   ……………………………….

The short story ‘’The Lesson’’ by Toni Cade Bambara brought me many reflections of my childhood, as I also grew up very financially limited, and in an emerging country. Therefore, as a child I’d usually get upset for not understanding why I could not have the toys I’d seen on the TV advertisements, or at my trips to the mall with my mom. However, as time passed and I started to enter my teenager years, my family started to grow financially and we could finally afford the things we wanted. Based on that, from all the eight kids that Miss Moore had taken on the toy store, the ones that called my attention and that I was able to emphasize the most were Mercedes and Sugar.  Mercedes presented herself as someone who had a different lifestyle from the other teenagers. She was the only one who had a studying space with a desk, and stationary itens on a box. Also, Mercedes didn’t seem surprised by the price tag on the toys, instead she seemed hopeful that she would have money enough to come back and pick something for herself as a birthday gift. In addition, Mercedes seemed to be the only one who did not understand the purpose that Miss Moore was trying to reach by taking them to the store, and the reason for that is because she was financially privileged enough to not need to.  Meanwhile, Sugar seemed to be the most upset about the prices, or on the fact that her family was not financially able to provide such things for her. Sugar manifested her incomprehension about wealth and social inequality as rage towards Mercedes, the system and Miss Moore. Moreover, one could argue that the reason why Sugar resented Miss Moore so much was a way […]

After visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store, Mercedes loved it. She stated that she had a desk at home for doing her homework compared to other students. So, she felt at home in the FAO toy store. Mercedes is different from the others because she wants to be like the rich, the price tags meant nothing to her or what they represented about America. All she wants is to come back with her birthday money to buy herself a new toy. Miss Moore on the other hand is a college-educated woman who came to live in a poor neighborhood of New York. She took the children to the FAO store to expose them to various issues and way of life. She is teaching the children about the larger community and the problems that African Americans and poor people face in the world. When going to the FAO store she challenged the children to think about what they saw like the prices on the toys and to question the status quo. She shows the children that wealth and race are linked, and that white people and African American people are different. She discusses with the students how much things cost, what their parents earn and the unequal division of wealth. Both characters understand what things cost and how people are treated unequal. Mercedes knows that she wants to live the rich life, to be like the white people and Miss Moore is an educated woman that knows what this other life consists of.  Miss Moore is encouraging the children to question the inequality in the world around them.  

Silvia and Mercedes are strong contrasts in Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson.” They are children in the temporary care of Miss Moore, a college-educated black woman with proper speech who desires to impart a lesson on the injustices of the economic system by taking them and four other children to FAO Schwartz, which is an expensive toy store. Silvia hates Miss Moore since she forces her into these lessons instead of enjoying her summer vacation. In contrast, Mercedes doesn’t seem to be very bothered by these lessons and seems to enjoy the outing. When they arrive at the toy store, they see all sorts of expensive toys in the window, from a 35 dollar clown to a 1,195 dollar sailboat. Silvia’s reaction to what she sees ranges from disbelief to disgust at the prices. It is all very alien to her upbringing since she is used to being poor, and she wondered what kind of people could afford to spend that much on toys. Even the least expensive item would be far beyond what is expected and could buy many things like bunk beds and a visit to family in the country along with the money for rent and some change for piano fees. She also feels jealousy and anger when she sees her friend Sugar run her fingers along with the very expensive sailboat, although she doesn’t know who to direct these feelings. When Miss Moore asks everyone what they learned from the visit, Silvia is defiant and doesn’t say anything. She also tries to silence her friend Sugar when she says that it costs less to feed everyone in their group for a year than what it costs for the sailboat. In the end, despite her resistance to Miss Moore’s teachings, her emotions are disquieted by […]

The two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara would be Sugar and Sylvia. These two characters response to the experience they had at the FAO Schwarz store were very different. Sugar’s first response at the FAO toy store was whether or not stealing was a viable option at the location. But before long she came to a realization that the price tags set up in the store for a toy was able to feed an entire family of 6-7 for a year, and this struck her hard as not everyone had the opportunity to get a cut out of the promised “equal opportunity” that democracy has offered. Sylvia on the other hand, was still hung up on the idea of the four dollars she was able to get and still didn’t seem to pick up the unfairness of society and was content with what she had in her little town.

The Lesson, by Toni Cade Bambara, depicts a scene of a group of kids from Harlem who are taken to f F.A.O Schwarz by Miss Moore, an educated woman who teaches kids in Harlem. Sylvia is a rebellious girl who has resentment for Miss Moore. Sylvia also seems to know more about inequality than the rest of the group. When they arrived at the toyshop, Sylvia is shocked at how expensive the toys are. Sylvia talks about how there are better ways to spend money and she cannot justify spending the amount of money on toys. Immediately after entering the toy store, she hesitates to enter because she feels out of place. By the way Mercedes comments on the toys, it is clear that she comes from a wealthier family. She also mentioned how she has a desk, something the other kids in the group don’t have, and how she is much more comfortable with the prices at the shop. Whenever Mercedes talked about her family’s money, she would be mocked by the kids in the group. Sylvia comes from a lower class family while Mercedes comes from an upper family, and they both have opposing views on the price tags.

In the article “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, There are two characters that have different personalities and experiences when it comes to the F.O.A store. One character is Mercedes and the other is Sylvia. These two characters have both visited the F.A.O schwarz store and different ideas on how it was. The F.O.A is an expensive store that sell high priced toys. Sylvia was close to the poverty bracket and only one was surprised that there are toys that are this expensive. Sylvia was thinking about the toys and how  one toy clown was $35 and she was saying that she can do so much with that for her family like visit her grand daddy Nelson in the country. But with Mercedes she couldn’t wait to get into the store and come back to buy something with her birthday money. These 2 characters have different morals because Sylvia would want to use the money for her family when Mercedes would just want to buy toys. Mercedes was interested and asked the employees of the shop questions about the toys. As you can tell Mercedes has more money than Sylvia or Mercedes is just not responsible with money.

Sylvia was the child who had the strongest notion of money from the fact that when they were on the taxi, only she was “trying to figure out how to spend this money” that Miss Moore gave her as taxi fare. She wanted to save that money as much as possible even though her idea was not legitimate. Obviously, after they left the toy store, she was also the one who got the most angry about money being distributed to people so unfairly. It is unacceptable for her the first time in Miss Moore’s class learning a meaningful life lesson by knowing the distance between rich and poor. From $300 microscope to $1195 hand-crafted sailboat, she gradually realized she was actually at the very bottom of social economic hierarchy, to the extent where she started to doubt whether the toy store was real to them. When they finally grouped near the mailbox, unlike Sugar speaking out of the truth, she decided to carry out a more practical way to eliminate this inequality. Mercedes, on the other hand,  seemingly was the only one who learned the least from the trip. To her, it was common to visit toy stores such as FAO Schwarz. Different from other kids, she was not scared away by the outrageous toy price. Instead, the only thing she cared about was whether she liked that sailboat or not because “My father’d buy it for me if I wanted it.” The action of buying a luxury toy can be done in the moment to ask parents, which all other kids can never imagine in their childhood. The meaning of this trip for her was nothing more than knowing another toy shore where she can pick up one toy on her next birthday. However, I am curious about what […]

I think Sugar’s reaction to being in the Toy Store was very interesting. She understood why Miss Moore brought them there, to show them the difference between their lives, and the people who could spend money like that on these luxury toys for their children. And then .Q.T., who seems to probably be the youngest out of the group, has this innocence about him. He seems excited about the toy boat, and asks if it’s for children to play with. Not really seeming to catch on to the price until the older kids start talking about it.

These two characters Sylvia and Sugar from “The Lesson” stood out the most to me because of their differences. When Miss Moore asked the kids what did they learn today, both of their attitudes were different after the visit to the FAO Schwarz toy store. Sugar actually learned something like equality, when she says ” equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough” (6). Sugar for me is saying that there’s no equality, that the system is broken and needs fixing to become a fair system, and Sylvia didn’t nor did she want to learn and for that Sylvia is the government for me, they hear people like Sugar and find it annoying, heard it and won’t make a change. This was just a toy store visit but you can tell that Miss Moore was trying to teach the kids more about how money is being spent when it could feed families and Sugar was one of the kids that learned and a realization of rich versus poor.

In the article “the lesson” is teaching these kids a lifelong lesson if they want to do better for themselves in the future. Ms.Moore comes into these kids’ lives and tries to show them to make a difference in the future if you want to live a life like this you have to work for it. Sylvia is one of the characters in the story, she feels some type of way when Ms. Moore brings them into the Fao Schwartz store because she feels like it is way out of what they can afford or league as I should say. At the end of the story, Sylvia slowly starts to see why Ms. Moore brought them into the store she realizes that she has a choice the choices were either she can stay be unsatisfied with what ms more did for them or she can do something to make a change in the future so they won’t have to keep living the way they are living. Sugar is another young lady from the story she learns from Ms.Moore right away unlike Sylvia, Sugar basically learned that they can also be successful and experience happiness just like these people in any way.

“The Lesson” consists of a story of when a group of youngsters is brought to an expensive toy store by Miss Moore in an attempt to start them thinking about the inequalities of the world. Sylvia, the young narrator, responds to Miss Moore’s lesson with derision. She is a stubborn one, who is angered by both the audacity of this woman, to bring them to a store so clearly out of their league, and by her own response to it. One can clearly see that the lesson that Miss Moore was trying to instill was right at her fingertips, with how she said that the price of that sailboat “pisses [her] off,” and how she didn’t dare to touch it. By the end of the trip, she is upset at how she’s beginning to realize the lesson that Miss Moore was trying to teach, with how resistant she was in the beginning and how much she dislikes Miss Moore. Sugar initially was a cohesive unit with Sylvia. The majority of her mentions in the story up until the very end are always with Sylvia saying “me and Sugar,” as if they were two peas in a pod. When Sylvia hesitates to open the door to the store, she steps aside for Sugar to do it, but Sugar hesitates as well. When looking at the sailboat, Sylvia is angered by the opulence, and the fact that Sugar is able to touch it when she can’t. However, at the end it takes a competitive note after Sugar betrays Sylvia in a sense by “pushing [her] off her feet like she never done before” and replying to Miss Moore’s question by telling her what she wanted to hear. Sugar seems to reject Miss Moore’s teachings to pander to upset Sylvia, though.

Miss Moore takes the children to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.” This was a high-end toy store, and she was curious to see how the kids felt about it. Sylvia and Mercedes are the two characters I’m going to compare in this narrative, which takes place in Harlem, New York. Mercedes differs from the other characters in that she appears to be mature than the other children in the narrative. Mercedes appears to have the financial means to purchase such pricey items, and she even claims that her parents would buy her anything if she asked for it. Mercedes also seems to have more comprehension than the other kids due to her social status even though she still lives in a poor neighborhood. Meanwhile, Sylvia recognizes and is irritated that individuals can buy these toys for the sheer joy of them, but her parents can do several things for the same cash. Miss More had given them a crucial lesson about social status and where they were in society in comparison to people who could buy those expensive toys, but Sylvia refused to accept it. This reading also emphasizes that miss Moore is attempting to persuade the kids too take action that will have a positive impact on society. This would necessitate they’re standing out and speaking up, to be unique.          

It seems that Sugar and Sylvia are having an almost identical experience discovering F.A.O. Schwartz. At first, when looking in the storefront window, they are loud and silly and excited about the fancy toys. Then, when it is time to enter the store, they both became shy and insecure. Once they are inside, they are still unsure of themselves and clumsily bump into each other. The author notes that the girls would have usually found this funny, but they are too stunned by the prices of the toys in the store. At this point, Sugar and Sylvia start to respond differently. Sugar, fascinated with an incredibly expensive sailboat, begins touching it, which makes Sylvia very upset. The author shows anger building steadily inside Sylvia, and she tries not to acknowledge it. Sylvia seems as though she is somewhat aware of the inequality that exists and resents it being brought to her attention. Sugar, on the other hand, seems as though she is just starting to see it for the first time. When Sugar finally speaks about the unfairness out loud, Sylvia Is “disgusted with Sugar’s treachery” and walks off. When Sugar catches up to Sylvia, she is excited about going on a little spree with the four dollars they have, whereas Sylvia finally decides to think about what she learned and resolves to face the challenges ahead.

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the narrator gives the reader insight into children who grew up in poverty and how their perspective changes when traveling to an expensive toy store.  In the beginning, the narrator Sylvia is a smart, rebellious child who doesn’t like Miss Moore because of her proper speech. Sylvia refuses to listen to anyone but herself because she’s big on independence.When Miss Moore brings Sylvia to the toy store she hesitates to walk in .“So I and Sugar turn the corner where the entrance is, but when we got there I kinda hung back”. Sylvia and Sugar were uncomfortable being in a new environment. Sylvia started questioning the prices of the toys and realized that amount of money could buy her family more things. Sylvia tried to make the other children misbehave but they were more interested in the $1000 toys which made her mad. When Sylvia arrives home she reflects on her day after learning about economic inequality. Sylvia refused to accept that Miss More had taught them an important lesson about social class and where they stand in society from other who could afford those expensive toys. Miss Moore was described as this serious educated woman, who teaches children in Harlem. She and a group of students went on a trip to Fifth Ave. Most of the students did not like Ms.Moore in the beginning. One student that popped out to her was Sylvia and they both did not get along. When they arrive at the toy store Miss More questions the students on “What things cost and what their parents make and how money ain’t divided right in this country”. The students believed she was doing this in a way to be funny. Ms Moore uses this method to […]

In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson,” the narrator provides insight into a child’s knowledge of his or her own poverty through several people.  Mercedes, who comes from a somewhat more fortunate family, symbolizes a socioeconomic stratum in whom hope is not a luxury. For her, the situation is less vexing because, as revealed by her reactions, her financial circumstances are marginally better than those of the other characters. It is insufficient to evict her from their neighborhood, but it has a significant effect on how she views her own poverty and her chances of receiving a toy from FAO Schwarz.  Sylvia, the narrator, is less positive. She is a bright young lady who is quick on her feet and appears to have a very realistic view on life. That said, the happiness of not having the most painful aspects of reality thrust in one’s face is always sweet, which is why she is somewhat fed up with the forced reality check that visiting the toy store represents for her. She is enraged at everything and everyone because, more than any of her pals, she understands the unfairness of it all. Being confronted with such disadvantages in life is a tremendous burden to bear at the age of 12.

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is about Miss Moore taking children on a trip to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store.  The children live in poverty. This was an expensive toy store and she wanted to see the outcome of the children’s view on it. Mercedes had a different approach and view on the store. When asked what she thought about it, she said she would want to return with her birthday money (Bambara). From the text, I can tell that she enjoyed it because when the other kids were not ready to go in, she squeezed in between them to go first. She had a few smart remarks like asking if the other child’s boat runs with water and that she has a stationary desk from her godmother. The readers can tell that she does not suffer from poverty like the other kids since she is able to return to the store and has things that the other children do not. On the other hand, Sylvia is the complete opposite. When seeing the clown toy that goes for $35, she thought of the things that her family can do with that much. “Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Grand-daddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill to” (Bambara). She was stunned that people can spend so much money on toys when there are people in poverty that would use that money for more helpful things. She feels like it is not right that people are able to do that when her family and the others are struggling.

In “The Lesson” the children are all being taught by MS. Moore. Ms. Moore especially likes to make sure Sylvia is taught because she can tell that she is the leader of her little group and can influence the others. Sugar ends up being the one to answer Ms. Moore’s question about the F.A.O Schwarz store. Sylvia ends up trying to shut her up twice to make sure she don’t answer Ms. Moore because Sylvia cannot bare to give Ms. Moore the satisfaction of winning. Sylvia is too stubborn to admit what they all already know which is the economic inequity they all face. Sugar and Sylvia differ in the way that Sugar doesn’t see Ms. Moore as someone that she should defy while Sylvia will take any chance to defy her because Sylvia is prideful and won’t let no one “win” against her. Sugar on the other hand doesn’t mind and tries to at least think for herself. The girls are the same in the way that they both might think the same on some level and actually are smart enough to learn the lessons being taught by Ms. Moore.

Toni Cade Bambara’s novel, “The Lesson,” addresses the themes of poverty and wealth. The novel’s plot revolves around   Miss Moore  (a teacher who takes her kids) to a toy store. The primary objective of the visit was to find out kids’ reactions to wealth and poverty. Even though the kid’s displayed different reactions, Sylvia and her best friend sugar had an almost similar experience. After completing their visit, the children take the subway home, where Sylvia thinks about her experiences at the store. Sylvia was taken away by the clown bearing a price tag of $35. The kid was amazed that a single person could purchase a  birthday clown worth too much. In her real world, Sylvia notes that $35 could afford her entire family a visit to Grandpa, pay rent and the piano bill (p.6). The latter exposure leaves Sylvia wondering why some people have so much money while her family and friends have none. Sylvia’s experiences at the toy store are vibrant in connecting her childhood to the poor distribution of wealth and poverty. In addition to exposing her to unequal distribution of wealth, Sylvia is seen questioning Miss Moore’s ideology that poor people should not remain poor but rebel against their social status quo. Sylvia’s experience at the toy store is similar to Sugar’s. Despite having different opinions about items sold at the toy shop, the two girls agree that the prices indicate that their country is not democratic since some people earn too much. In contrast, others can hardly pay for their rent. For instance, Sylvia notes that the price of a clown can afford her family many things. Likewise, Sugar is surprised by Sylvia’s comment that the cost of a sailboat could feed all the children in a year (p.6-7).

The lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a narrative about children who, with the help of their teacher, learn a lesson about the social problems of society. The reader can see that children live in a bubble, not comprehending the daily challenges they and their parents must endure. Nevertheless, even after the trip to the expensive toy store, the children have different responses to such experiences. Sylvia, the narrative’s main character and narrator, is a young Black girl. She is a defiant youngster who takes pleasure in her individuality. Sylvia also struggles with rage, and it is first aimed towards the teacher, Miss Moore. However, as the story continues, she starts to better comprehend the teacher’s lessons on economic injustice and discrimination. The girl recognizes that specific individuals are prosperous while others, such as her own relatives, struggle. The last phrase of Sylvia can be quite meaningful: “But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 96). It could mean that after the trip to the toy store, Sylvia will fight for her comfort and well-being in the future. Thus, the excursion was mind-changing, and Sylvia started to divert her rage away from Miss Moore and against the affluent toy store consumers. Sugar is Sylvia’s companion, and she is almost the complete opposite of her friend in the end. She and Sylvia appear to share the same interests and opinions at first, even their dislike for Miss Moore. However, Sugar begins to drift away from Sylvia as the novel progresses. It is initially seen when she touches the plastic sailboat at FAO Schwarz and subsequently when she speaks up on what she learned on the excursion to the toyshop. However, while Sylvia’s anger prevents her from successfully understanding and vocalizing her concerns, Sugar is ready to comprehend Miss Moore’s teaching […]

In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the themes that the story develops are appearance, fairness, social class, embarrassment, and education. The story unfolds through a young African-American woman named Sylvia. Sylvia is a restless and very stubborn young woman who wants to take her life into her own hands. Although Sylvia has a very special character, despite stealing Miss Moore’s money, she has a good analytical mind and a strong sense of justice. This is reflected in her anger at the unequal treatment of the toy store and her comments about her mother taking advantage of Aunt Gretchen. The worst thing about her is that she’s always quick to criticize other people’s faults, but she seems to be particularly concerned with gullibility and hypocrisy. In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Mercedes’ character is one of the children of the Harlem community that Miss Moore decides to accept as her protection. This role shows that she has more understanding and maturity than other children. Also, she behaves differently than others. According to Mercedes’ comments, her situation is somewhat encouraging because, unlike the other characters, her financial situation is a bit better.  

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the narrator allows insight into the realization of a child’s own poverty through various characters. One character, Mercedes, who has a somewhat more fortunate background represents a social class where hope is not a luxury. For her, the situation is less angering because, as we can learn through her reactions, her financial situation is slightly more fortunate than the rest of the characters’. It is not enough to get her out of their neighborhood but it still sufficiently affects the way she views her own poverty and her possibilities of getting a toy from FAO Schwarz. The narrator, Sylvia, however, is less optimistic. She is a smart girl, quick on her feet and seems to have a rather realistic understanding of life itself. That being said, the bliss of not having the most sorrowful parts of reality rubbed in one’s face is always sweet, therefore she is rather fed up with the forced reality check that having to visit the toy store is for her. She is angry at everything and everyone because, odds are, she understand the unfairness of it all more than any of her friends. Facing such disadvantage at life itself is a beyond heavy weight to have to carry around at 12.

Sylvia, the narrator, is hesitant to walk into the FAO toy store just from taking a glance at the prices of certain toys. “I could see me asking my mother for a $35 birthday clown…you wanna who that costs what? she’d say”. This quotes demonstrates the fact that Sylvia’s mother wouldn’t even think about buying a toy for that much money. Sylvia continues to lists things that could be bought for the price of $35, things that are more important than a toy such as bunk beds, rent, and bills. She is shocked that people would buy toys that cost so much money. On the other hand, Mercedes seemed to enjoy the trip to the toy store and even states she would like to revisit when she gets her birthday money. Unlike Sylvia, Mercedes seems to have the privilege to be able to afford such expensive toys and even states that her parents would by her anything if she asks for it. Which is why Sylvia and Mercedes had different experiences while in the toy store.

The story takes place in what some people might call the projects or the gusto but, in this case, it’s called the Slum by Miss Moore. Miss. Moore starts and finishes by telling them “What things cost and what their parents make and how money ain’t divided right in this country” which is already part of the lesson Miss. Moore is trying to come across. I feel that Miss. Moore kept an eye on Sylvia the most than Sugar, Junebug, Flyboy, Rosie and Mercedes because Miss. Moore wants to get the message through to Sylvia, plus Sylvia is the one who influences Sugar and the other kids. When they arrived on Fifth Avenue that was when Sylvia and Sugar realized that the society, they are surrounded by is nothing like the one they live in. To me, Sylvia might have been kind of intimidated by her surroundings on Fifth Avenue that’s why she hesitated to go into F.A.O Schwarz. “So I and Sugar turn the corner where the entrance is, but when we got there I kinda hung back” that was the line that gave me the impression. Sylvia Sugar and the rest of the kids get a taste of society on Fifth Avenue, but it was missed. Moore gives them the chance to experience it for themselves. Society is often perceived as a rich and fashionable social class depending on how you want to put it, but to the characters in the story of “The Lesson” They are naive, they are experiencing something new, and it would be understandable if they didn’t get Miss.