The Power of Personality in Toni Cade Bambara’s The Lesson
Developing character is something that comes with time. I believe that there are three major things that effect how people develop their character—where they are from, which includes their financial status; how they are raised; and the character of the people that have had the most influence on their lives. Sylvia, in Toni Cade Bambara’s "The Lesson," is very much influenced by all of these factors. Sylvia’s living in the slums and being poor makes her defensive and judgmental. Her parents not being around much leaves her without the attention and discipline that children need to develop to their fullest. Lastly, her friends and Miss Moore also have a great influence on how Sylvia thinks and acts, and lead Sylvia to be observant but also angry and stubborn. All of these characteristics not only determine Sylvia’s personality, but also are the basis for why I think Sylvia will not apply Miss Moore’s lesson.
Sylvia’s being poor influences the way in which she sees other people and feels about them. Sylvia lives in the slums of New York; it is the only life she knows and can realistically relate to. She does not see herself as poor or underprivileged. Rather, she is content with her life, and therefore resistant to change. Sylvia always considered herself and her cousin as "the only ones just right" in the neighborhood, and when an educated woman, Miss Moore, moves into the neighborhood, Sylvia feels threatened. Ms. Moore is threatening to her because she wants Sylvia to look at her low social status as being a bad thing, and Sylvia "doesn’t feature that." This resistance to change leads Sylvia to be very defensive and in turn judgmental. Sylvia is quick to find fl...
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...hrough." Sylvia is very used to being the leader of the group, the toughest girl, and being able to constantly defend herself, compared to inferior, embarrassed, and unprotected by her often strong words. Although Sylvia realizes Miss Moore’s lesson, I believe that her quick judgment, stubbornness, and anger shown throughout the story will hold her back from using Miss Moore’s lesson to her advantage. Then again, her anger especially, may provoke her to want to overcome her setbacks. I think the ending is vague and left wide open for one to speculate exactly what choice Sylvia will make. According to my observations, Sylvia’s negative attitude outweighs her chance for success.
Works Cited:
Bambara, Toni Cade. "The Lesson." Eds. Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico. Discovering Literature: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Updike, John. "A&P." Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw, 2002. 27-31.
After witnessing the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto, Schindler simply could not sit by and watch people be sent to death. After seeing the little girl in the red coat Schindler’s view on the whole Nazi operation changed. Here was this innocent girl running through utter chaos, as he sat on his high horse and watched the destruction. Schindler decided to help by bringing as many Jews out of the camps for work purpose, however no labor was carried out. Regina Perlman, a Jewish worker talked to Schindler and begged him to bring her parents to the factory, as they are old and would die if they did not get out of the concentration camps. He diminished the idea immediately claiming that he is running a business and harboring Jews are illegal, however, Schindler gave both her parents a job. When his workers were boarding the cattle cars to the factory a guard came along taking the children away from their parents and bringing them back into the camp. Schindler saved them, claiming he needs their small fingers to clean the insides of tiny machinery, however he was merely protecting the innocent children from being tortured. At the end of the war when the Jews are finally set free he even begins to cry, believing he did not do enough, questioning as to why he kept his car when he could of saved ten Jews with the money instead. Asking why he continued to parade with a gold pin when another Jew could of been saved. Convinced he did not do enough, yet he saved the lives of 1100 Jewish people, feeding and providing them with the essentials, using his own money. A hero is someone who has courage and is admired for their achievements, Schindler went against protocol and his own nation to save people who were deemed unfit for society and not any better than
In ‘Wilde’s Fiction’ written by Jerusha McCormack, the author starts her essay examining Oscar Wilde’s life and origins. The Artist, born and schooled in Ireland became a writer in England where he lived as a queer kind of Irishman. He studied in Oxford where he challenged himself beating the great scholars he met; later on, he acquired the title of an English aristocrat and made himself over as a dandy, a fine well-dressed man, who can also be known as a quite self-concerned person. Oscar Wilde, was also particularly famous for his quips, examining the drafts of his plays in fact, he used to open his works with jokes and witty phrases, his aphorisms became popular very soon and this could happen especially because he used the language of his audience, the language of common double-talk.
Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2000. 127-137.
Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908 in Zwitlau, which is now part of the present day Czech Republic, to his father and mother, Hans and Louisa Schindler. They were a deeply religious family, which resulted in a strong catholic household for Oskar and his younger sister Elfriede. The Schindler family was one of the richest and most prominent in Zwitlau and elsewhere. Mostly due to the success of their family owned machinery business. Oskar Schindler wasn’t necessarily born of noble birth. He was basically an ordinary guy, especially when his father lost his business, who did extraordinary deeds for people who he has never even met.
The OSH Act gave OSHA the authority to come into work places and inspect facilities for health and safety risks. Due to shortages in personnel, OSHA inspects accidents and safety complaints that are filed, and those facilities that have a high volume of accident rates. If an individual state has an approved safety and health enforcement plan, than they may be exempt from yearly inspections by OSHA and have their own state personnel conduct the inspections. The Act sets a maximum penalty for safety and health violations, but OSHA has the authority to calculate fines. If an industry objects to the citation or fines, they can go before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. OSHA has been criticized on both ends, by industries for being too strict, and by unions for not being strict enough. In the 1980s, OSHA had instituted a policy that would exempt some workplaces from a complete inspection if they had a lower than average injury rate. However, that policy was abandoned when an employee died from a workplace that OSHA had not fully inspected. OSHA has implemented new procedures that have set higher penalties and increased the maximum fine for all types of infractions.
Oscar Wilde provides an intimate portrait of the poet, playwright, and self-described aesthete. Born one year after Wilde, in 1855, Frank Harris was much more than a contemporary. He lived in the same London social circles, knew the same people, and participated in the same events as Wilde, often by his side. Harris' biography, which is much more a recounting of the dialogue between Harris and his subject than a straight-forward narrative of Wilde's life, is directed to those outside the loop, those Victorians who misunderstood Wilde, viewing his life as just as one controversy after another. By focusing heavily on Wilde's education and the intense scrutiny of his lifestyle by England's movers and shakers, he presents Oscar Wilde as an innocent genius whose enthusiastic love of the classics, art, words, and life in general made him a victim in Victorian 1890s London. Harris uses the insight of his ...
Schindler played a vital role as a Nazi, for his job was to bring back news of Polish military movements in Krakow. During his time as a spy, he was arrested and sentenced to death by the Czechoslovakian police: “He was arrested in 1941 and 1942 but was quickly released each time because of his high-ranking friends and extravagant bribes” (Searle-Meehan, Oskar Schindler). Schindler maintained a good relationship with the Nazis and they helped him get out of illegal situations. He broke their trust and betrayed his role in the Nazi regime. This evidence left out the fact that Schindler betrayed the Nazis due to their brutality and inhumane actions toward the Jewish people. Schindler wanted to protect people from this uncontrollable genocide and protected as many people as he could from getting into the hands of the Nazi soldiers: “Oskar employed hundreds of Jews in his factory in Poland and saved them from certain death under the hands of the Nazis” (Searle-Meehan, Oskar Schindler). His ability to hire the Jews allowed him to keep them away from murder and torture. While Schindler may have been a traitor in the eyes of the Nazis, he gave people the chance to live the rest of their life
Baselga, Mariano. “Oscar Wilde: The Satire of Social Habits.” In Rediscovering Oscar Wilde, England: Colin Smuthe, 1994: pp. 13-20.
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, to William and Jane Wilde, at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, Ireland. Oscar’s father, William, was one of Ireland’s most respected surgeon and author, while his mother, Jane, was a poet and went by the nom de plume “Speranza”. Oscar was the second of their three children, but he also had three half-siblings from his father’s side. Oscar and his two siblings were raised in an artistic atmosphere, particularly due to his mother’s occupation and personality.
We begin another chapter in the life of Oscar Wilde, the year 1888, many things have taken place, Oscar has been married and bore two children, Vyvyan and Cyril and his touring of the United States and other countries have brought forth success to the literary giant. Some of his successful writings are "The Picture of Dorian Gray"(1891), "A Woman of No Importance"(1894) and his most resent essay known "The Decay of Lying".
Wearing a large Nazi symbol but not trying to make his act believable, he used all of his money on his Jews and that may have made other people of the Nazi power question his loyalty to Hitler and the Nazis ideals. Although his impulsive nature saved the lives of many Jews, he may have been lucky to have misled those around him. Schindler also chose workers based on their looks when he first was hiring Jews and could have violated a rule of the Nazis that had to do with romantical interest with Jewish people. His impulsiveness, while an obvious part of his personality, saved many lives and gave them and their descendants a second
Toni Cade Bambara, DiYanni, R. (Ch 10.) The Lesson (p. 427-432) & Literature Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. (2007). New York:NY McGraw-Hill
Woodcock, George. The Paradox of Oscar Wilde. London-New York: T.V. Boardman and Co., Ltd., 1950.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.