THE LESSON by CADE
Thesis: The theme of this work is humanistic and there is intensive use of symbolism to enhance the reader’s understanding.The lesson takes place in New York’s inner city. This fictional story starts with a group of kids who are not educated, poor and of low class standing in front of a mail box. They are preparing for another day to be taught by Mrs. Moore. This lady felt that he was obliged to assist the less fortunate children to gain knowledge. This was because she was the only lady in the area who had achieved a degree.
The story is told from a point of view of a protagonist who, that is the first person narrator name Sylvia. She is an African American girl, who is strong willed, very intelligent and the leader of the crew. The story shows a woman who comes back to a land where they are not well up economically and takes some children for a trip where they get their first experience in a taxi. It is portrayed in a series of events throughout the journey.
Sylvia is seen to have a street smart character with high leadership quality. During the trip the group haves fun as Sylvia plans how to keep some money for herself. Miss Moore gave them money knowingly and conveys that money as well as work is very important. The people around the toy shop where they visited wonder why the group could spend money on toys.
When one of the friends of Sylvia question about the spending on toys she feels betrayed and becomes hard for her to digest the facts of inequality (Bambara, 653). She also feels small.The Sylvia’s true nature is that of the winner. This is depicted in the last line of the story where she states that, ‘but aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.’ (Bambara, 653). The left four dollars were at her ownership. She took this as payment for the betrayal she had suffered at the hands of her friends.
The theme of the story is clear. This is that in a country so rich like the US the difference between the haves and the have-nots is great. It can be showed in the line which states this ‘that it aint mush of democracy if you ask me.’ (Bambara, 653) Mrs. Moore showed what gain can be obtained from education and also let the children to know what life had to offer in the other side.
Though the characters used in the story were represented as black and white, it goes a step ahead to pity ignorance over arrogance. It is funny that there are children who can’t read and have nowhere to obtain education from whereas the society has people who can afford to spend money on toys. The lower class is also seen to be very irresponsible in raising of their children.
Mrs. Moore shows that the parent should take the sole responsibility of letting her child to know the world. They should not leave this duty to their relatives or make them responsible to the community.Symbolism in names is shown in the name of the antagonist Miss Moore. It can be seen in a number of ways. If taken as ‘more’ it will mean that this lady has a lot to give or offer to the children. She can also be depicted as the stable structure to where the children can be moored to as the ship is moored to the dock to make it more stable.
The names of the children are also symbolic. For example sugar comes off as sweet and innocent child throughout the story. The name of Mercedes shows that the family she is from has some money which is true. Rosie Giraffe is used to show that the owner of the name was very tall. Junebug gives an impression of a wiry and very hyper kind of a girl with a fat butt, portly figure with the posterior perimeter abundant.The use of Sylvia as a protagonist is very essential as it shows that there are still a lot of things to learn from the world although is unfair. The characters are very well defined. The story is very clear and easy to understand.
Reference
Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” Literature and society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction.
Pamela J Annas and Robert C. Rosen. 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J 2007. P. 647-653
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