The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay Sample

“The lesson” the short story by Toni cade Bambara embarked us on a journey of the life of the less fortunate. This story brought from the perspective most people deem to be oblivious to was eye-opening to what being fortunate in life looks like. In the story we are introduced to the life of a young girl named Sylvia who seemed to be portraying how where one is from is what makes them who they are. As we get into the short story it’s clear that most of the characters are comfortable with where they are and their community. They seem to be well adjusted to what they have and don’t seem to desire more. Yet that changes when the class of Sylvia is taken on a field trip by a woman named miss Moore who seemed to have come from a more progressed neighbor who decided to take them into the city to a toy store meant for more well-off people. that made them acknowledge the difference between them and other people. It can be seen that most of the kids' characters completely shifted and an uncomfortable ambiance took place, while they admired things they could not get. 

As this is a fictional story, in our world the injustice of our corrupted system seems to be playing its role in developing this story into reality. People seem to ignore the struggles of other communities that seem to be on the edge of survival, While others are off spending money and time on useless things. This is exactly how Sylvia’s life is portrayed, we are given the point of view from the less fortunate communities through Sylvia.   In this quote you can visualize the pain and disgust Sylvia feels as she watches the price of a trick clown toy when she starts asking “who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns- what kind of work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it”. Sylvia seems to start questioning the system she lives in and starts to see what others seem to have that her community could not even dream of having. This leads Sylvia to start questioning why those communities get to live in such luxury why they seem to be 

While reading the lesson, one thing that struck me as weird is the character, Mercedes. From the start of the story, one could see that Mercedes was a bit more well off than the rest of the community which did not fit the short story’s ambiance. She acted differently and had things other characters did not have like stationery and a desk. This led other characters to feel indifferent towards her because they could not relate to her as much, which is why she had been the only one out of the group that did not have a nickname. This is why the author decided to name Mercedes character after an expensive car, to show the readers that she was different from the rest of the children, and to hint at her wealth. “ I have never ever been shy about doing nothing or going nowhere. But then Mercedes steps up-” in this quote Sylvia is speaking about how uncomfortable she was feeling about going into the toy store first, you could tell that Sylvia was not used to feeling this way but that she was in a very unpleasant environment for her. On the other hand, Mercedes was the first to step in and enter the store with no discomfort and with ease. This shows that Mercedes was in her right environment and probably felt more comfortable being in that kind of neighborhood than hers.

Bambara chose to write the short story through a broken vocabulary. This was intended to help the readers understand the climate in which the story takes place. Most worlds in the story had either been shortened or altered. This kind of vocabulary is usually used among poorer communities. It is seen that Sylvia the main character uses the vocabulary of a person to judge them if they use proper English proves to Sylvia that they are not from the neighborhood and are more well off as can be seen per this quote, “ this lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup”. The author had hoped that having Sylvia use that kind of vocabulary would which bring a greater attribute to the story and make it more realistic and imaginable.