The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara - Book Report/Review Example

Introduction The short story ‘The Lesson’, by Toni Cade Bambara, is a story of failure of the society to give equal life chances to every person in the world. The story throws a light on the disadvantages of a person if he is born in a family which is a victim of prejudice, inferior treatment and lack of opportunities in life. However, even though the story is about social inequalities in life, it is more about the intimate feeling of shame that is attached to poverty. Through the main character Sylvia, the author has tried to point out that at the end of the day, the thing that shapes your life is ‘you’. The story reveals that blaming the society or the government is not a solution to poverty or lack of opportunities. Every person has a capability to be ‘equal’ to others. The only thing that is needed is proper guidance, nurturing environment and a strong desire. Hence, the core message of the story is that no matter what the ethnic background of a person is, the two things that have the power to awaken the sleeping giant in him are the presence of a personal guide in life and a strong desire to live a respectable life in the society. The Setting In the short story ‘The Lesson’, the author Toni Cade Bambara has used the setting of black ethnic community to show the unequal life opportunities present in the society. The story begins with the narrator (a child named Sylvia) describing the way she and her friends spend their time laughing at different people and teasing them on their appearance. The reader gets the idea about the lack of direction, guidance and hope in the lives of the children belonging to the black community. They are left alone at home as their parents do not have time for them. Lack of a guardian in the absence of the parents develops carelessness, irresponsible behavior, rude manners and bad language pattern in children. However, the parents cannot be blamed as their poverty makes them incapable of caring for their children. As the story proceeds, the reader realizes that the characters in the story are the black children living in the slums. Their parents are poor and can barely manage a place to live and food to eat. Under such circumstances, they cannot afford to leave their jobs to look after their children. The author has attracted the reader’s attention to the fact that the weak financial condition of poor families does not allow them to spend time with their children. They have to work day and night in order to survive. Hence, the children are brought up without proper guidance or a role model in life. This leads them to perform poorly at school and drop out the school. This leads to a vicious cycle of disadvantages in life as instead of gaining a financial security and social status through good education, children from poor community end up getting involved in crimes or temporary jobs which offer them nothing but shame and hopelessness. Even if they marry and have children, their social status remains the same and hence, they pass the same disadvantages that they suffered in life, to the next generation. However, through the interactions between the characters of the story, the author has pointed out that children from disadvantageous families have a potential to become responsible citizens of the society. The only thing that is needed to change them is a person like Miss Moore, an intelligent and a smart guide in life. The Characters And Symbolism Through the characters of Sylvia and Miss Moore, the author has shown that it is not just the environment that shapes human being’s life but a strong desire to change and a different thinking pattern. People who ignore the negative influence of others and are strong enough to follow their heart, have the ability to go beyond their life circumstances and become successful in life. The character of Miss Moore symbolizes exactly the same. Miss Moore Sylvia, the narrator of the story, describes Miss Moore as someone with “nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup”. This description clearly shows that Miss Moore is someone who belongs to their community but is not like them. Miss Moore symbolizes the rebellious spirit in human beings. The fact that she is an educated person shows that she must have struggled a lot to remain uninfluenced by the environmental surroundings. Rather than following the crowd, she decided to become different, learn to speak properly, focus on acquiring education and make her life better. People from black community have a certain accent and a certain body language. From the narrator’s description of Miss Moore, it is evident that Miss Moore has evolved herself into a different personality. She has managed to groom and change herself in such a way that rather than feeling ‘out of place’ while interacting with successful and wealthy people, she will feel extremely confident and assured of her own identity. The presence of white people will not affect her self-esteem. Miss Moore’s broadmindedness and maturity is revealed through her decision to take young children on a tour of Fifth Avenue, rather than taking them to a church or children’s park. She realizes that for young people to understand the reality of life, it is necessary to expose them to different class of people. For the first time in their life, Sylvia and her friends get a chance to realize that, outside the slums they live in, there exists a big, luxurious and beautiful world of opportunities. Miss Moore makes them realize that they are capable of achieving happiness if they succeed in winning over the negative and disadvantageous circumstances in their life. Hence, Miss Moore symbolizes a spirit of victory, fresh attitude and positive outlook towards life. Sylvia Sylvia symbolizes a rebellious and a negative attitude of people. Her use of words ‘talk like dogs’ and ‘bitch’ shows that using foul language has become a part of her personality. Her criticism and mockery of other people shows her suppressed frustration and anger. However, the most important aspect that is evident in her personality is the ‘resistance to change’. Her hate for Miss Moore symbolizes ‘resistance to change’. It shows that Sylvia does not like it when someone tries to change the circumstances of life. Sylvia not only refuses to respond to Miss Moore’s efforts to stimulate her to think differently, but also dissuades her friends from responding to Miss Moore when she tries to provoke them to think about the limited life they are leading. Sylvia does not like Miss Moore telling them how they should grab the opportunities in life to become capable of making a change in the society. Sylvia steps on Sugar’s foot when she tries to answer Miss Moore’s question. However, even after being so resistant to change, the whole experience of visiting Fifth Avenue shakes Sylvia to the core. In the end of the story, Sylvia says that she will go to the Drive “to think this day through”. This sentence, in the end, makes it evident that Sylvia is going to follow the foot steps of Miss Moore. Conclusion Through the short story ‘The Lesson’, author Toni Cade Bambara has shown that a positive influence in life can change your destiny forever. Miss Moore’s presence and a tour to Fifth Avenue changes Sylvia’s life forever. Hence, the story gives a message that it is not the background that shapes the destiny of a person but the presence of a positive guide in life and an exposure to different opportunities in life. Work Cited Bambara, Toni. “The Lesson.” n.d. Web. 10 November 2010. Read More