The Lesson

A detailed Summary of The Lesson

Many children in school learn about famous Americans like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King who fought to make this the land of freedom, opportunity, and equality for all. They learn about famous documents like the Declaration of Independence, which declares that "All Men are created equal...". One of the most difficult things about growing up as a member of a minority group within the United States, is learning that America is not the perfect portrait of equality, opportunity, and freedom that some make it out to be. In Toni Cade Bambara's short story, "The Lesson," Bambara shows one women's attempt to show a group of poor black kids the inequalities that exists within our so called equal society.

A group of black children are taken on a "field trip" to an upscale part of New York City, Fifth Avenue, an exclusive and expensive shopping district frequented primarily by whites. The guide of the field trip is an intelligent young black woman with a college degree named Miss Moore. Miss Moore lives near the children and takes responsibility in the education of the children. On the trip Miss Moore takes the children to the very famous toy store F.A.O. Schwartz. There the children are exposed

However, Miss Moore's "lesson" has Sylvia overwhelmed by its implications; she has to escape from the group to "think this day through." This shows that Sylvia understands the implications of Miss Moore's lesson. The lesson has to do with the nature of the relationship of money to class. The Promise of the American Dream is that any enterprising person can break the ceiling of poverty and come out on Fifth Avenue. I feel that there is something wrong with a society in which one class can spend $1000 for toy sailboats while another class goes hungry. There is something wrong with a society in which one's ability to shop at stores like F.A.O. Schwartz is a given, while the children of Sylvia's class can only covet. One shouldn't feel ashamed to walk into the store like Sylvia because of her inability to buy makes her unworthy. Sylvia leaves the store filled with conflicting emotions: shock, shame, frustration, anger but also desire.

to rooms full of toys, which cost more than their parents' annual incomes and to all the trappings of luxury that they never knew, existed. After entering the store the stories narrator, a street-smart girl named Sylvia, begins to wonder what Miss Moore's goal is in bringing the children to a toy store. In fact I believe that Miss Moore has brought the children to the store to teach them a lesson. And by teaching the lesson, she introduces the topic by asking the children if they know what "real money" is; wh

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Approximate Word count = 982
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English