Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson Analysis

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Question 4, page 1100 In Toni Cade Bambara’s The Lesson, we can point to few statements by the children that articulate the lesson Mrs. More is trying to teach them. For example, one of the kids in the group Sugar, states “I don’t think all of us here put together eat in year what that sailboat coasts (1099)”, referring to a toy sailboat that the group saw at the store, which was selling for one thousand one hundred and ninety-five dollars. Additionally, sugar adds,” Equal chance to purse of happiness means an equal crack at the dough. Don’t it? (1099)” These two statements summarize exactly what miss More is trying to teach the group. One of the things she wants them to realize is that the wealth is not necessary divvied evenly among all people. …show more content…

Which is why some people could spend over thousand dollars on a sailboat and others would have to work for many years to buy that same sailboat. Which is exactly what Sugar is getting at with his first statement. The other lesson Miss More wants them to realize is that it doesn’t have to be this way. The Kids don’t necessarily have to accept this situation, and to think that they’ll never be able to buy the things in the store. In fact Miss More wants them to be a little angry and frustrated about the whole situation, and motivate them to work harder. Which exactly why Miss more gets so happy and excited when Sugar shares his frustration with the group. As Sylvia observers “Miss More is beside herself (1099)”. There are also a many other statements by the children that are very much connected to What Miss More is trying to teach them, for example “White folks are crazy (1099)”, “That much money should last forever (1096)” and “I am jealous …. I sure want to punch somebody in the Mouth (1098)”. All of this statements as well as many others in the text, essentially emphasize one of the two things the kids are supposed to learn from this trip. The fact that money is not divided out evenly, and that it …show more content…

An argument can be made that Joyce is angry and unsatisfied with himself., because we see that throughout the story he is afraid to speak to Mangan’s sister when they finally speak, Joyce tells her that he’ll get her something from Araby, and he makes it his mission to go to Araby and buy her something. After spending the entire day worrying and wondering if he’ll be able to go, he finally makes it but it’s too late because the festival is closing out. Joyce end the story with “I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger (626)”. Judging by this statement we see that the Joyce is very frustrated with his experience and he feels useless, and the fact that he wasted the whole day is making him angry. The fact that the author elected to end the story on such a negative note, is perhaps an indicator that he is not completely satisfied with how the whole situation unfolded. Even after all these

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