Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson Summary

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In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the children who live in the ghetto in New York go on a trip with their teacher, Miss Moore, to another part of town .When they get there, they visit a toy store. Miss Moore hopes that the students learn a lesson from the visit and skills she tries to teach them in the store. The theme of this short story is Poverty and Wealth .The teacher wants her students to make inferences about ghetto life and the upper class people who can afford the high cost of toys. Despite the main character’s sarcastic attitude towards the teacher and the trip to the toy store in downtown Manhattan, she believes that there is more in life than where you come from; while the other characters don’t understand the theme in the “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. The author gives credibility to the characters through their actions and thoughts in a way that establishes who they …show more content…

For example, Sylvia attacks the teacher’s clothes and educational background, etc., but shows that she knows the teacher’s importance through observing what parents are allowing her to do. This same attitude is shown when she is in the store and starts to notice prices and compare their lifestyle to that of the rich. She even gets upset at what she sees in the store. At this point, the character starts to think about the real reason they are there. “What kind of work they do and how they live and how come we ani’t in on it? (Bambara91) .Here we are is who we are. But it don’t necessarily have to be that way, Miss Moore always adds”. This lets the reader know that Sylvia wants to know more about a better life where she can get nice things. Sylvia is the only one out of children who understand the lesson and point that Miss Moore is trying to teach them .The fact that Sylvia is stuck in her ways and she gets upset actually does not represent what she really

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