English 111
September 18th 2011
The Hard Truth

The short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is a story that brings to light the lesson of social standings in America. It also shows you how one person can help change the lives of the children in a community. The story is set in the slums of a larger city. The characters in this story are a group of young, uneducated children originally from the south. The children are taken under wing by an older women with a higher education named Miss Moore. In the story Miss Moore takes the children on a trip into New York city where she tries to show them how unfair our society can be, teaching the children lessons for life such as math and grammar. These lessons however are only there to lead up to the larger picture of her lesson for the day. During the trip that Miss Moore and the children took you begin to understand and get a feeling for how the narrator, Sylvia, felt about where she lived and who she was. Sylvia started out the story not understand or appreciating who Miss Moore was and what Miss Moore was doing for her and the rest of her family. She made fun of Miss Moore with her cousins because Miss Moore spoke proper and dressed differently than the other people whom lived around her. To Sylvia and even her cousins Miss Moore was a person that they disliked for reasons they didn't understand. She was different than the rest of the people in their lives. And to young children, that is reason enough for them to dislike a person. At one point in the story Sylvia made the comment “this lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup. And quite naturally we laughed at her.” (Reid 537) While out on their trip, Miss Moore hailed them a cab to take them into the city. Miss Moore handed Sylvia a five dollar bill and tells her to pay for the cab ride and to give the driver a ten percent tip. This was one of the lessons that Miss Moore tried to teach the children that day. Miss Moore also talked to them about how much each of their parents make and how much rent cost each month plus all of the other bills. At this point in the story Miss Moore was trying to show them the value of a dollar. However the children didn't want to hear what she had to say. The one thing that they all knew was that their parents worked hard for what little they did have. The thought that they were actually poor had never really crossed their minds before because it was all they knew. And the pure thought of it made Sylvia angry at one point. The children knew that money didn't grow on trees but they also didn't know what Miss Moore was trying to show them. Once they got into city, the cab stopped on Fifth Avenue. Once they all got out of the cabs the children looked around and took in the sights in front of them. It was an odd sight to Sylvia. Her remark at this point was, “and everybody dressed in stockings. One lady in a fur coat, hot as it is. White folks crazy.” (539). To Sylvia it was as if the people dressed like this just because they were white. When the truth behind it was that the people were wealthy and their dressing like that was a way for them to show that off. Even today people who are a part of our wealthier society will dress in certain ways just to show everyone that they have more money that most people. Or we may buy fancy cars or big houses to show off how well to do we are. Miss Moore took all of the children to the front of a toy store and told the children that they had arrived at their intended destination. Miss Moore told the children to look inside of the window and without any hesitation the children do as told, this time with excitement. Even Sylvia saying “me and Sugar screamin, this is mine, that's mine, I gotta have that, that was made for me, I was born for that.” (539). One of the children who is called Flyboy sees a beautiful sailboat. Then they all start to read off the sales tag, “Hand-crafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars.” (540). The children were taken back by this. In fact Sylvia even read it again just to make sure she read it right. Sylvia then said “Who'd pay all that when you can buy a sailboat set for a quarter at Pop's, a tube of glue for a dime, and a ball of string for eight cents?” (540). This is when Miss Moore's lesson begins to sink in with the children. One of the other children named Q. T. made the comment “must be rich people shop here.” (541). Seeing this price tag makes Sylvia mad but she doesn't understand why it does. Later Sylvia sees a clown toy that costs $35 and she thinks about what her mother would say if she asked for it for her birthday. “You wanna who that costs what?” (542) she hears her mother say. The clown toy was such a simple toy and yet it was priced so high. Sylvia figured out just how much $35 could buy for her family. Such a small amount of money would cover their rent and their piano bill, or even pay for the whole family to go see their grandfather. Miss Moore would point out to the children before this trip that “where we are is who we are.” (542) and “that it doesn't have to be that way. The poor need to demand their fair share of the pie too.” (542). Now the true meanings behind these word begin to sink in, and suddenly they make sense to the children. Sugar was the one who put their discovery into words. Sugar states “that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?” (543). Finally Miss Moore had gotten through to the children and she was so happy to hear Sugar say these words. The truth is Sylvia is much like many of us in our society. She knows the harsh truth of what it mean to be poor or rich. She knows what it means to work day in and day out just to have so little to show for it. While others are “born into money” and don't lift a finger to keep their money. She understands all of this and yet isn't willing to speak up and say anything about it. It is true that our social standings, being rich or being poor, can be rather unfair is many ways. I was born into a family that worked very hard for many years to be where they are, and yet they still aren't rich, but they aren't poor either. My parents are what is considered the “middle class”. For me it took years to understand what this meant. My parents have a nice home and two cars and we went on vacations every year. And I decided I was going to do what I had to do in order to live the best life I see fit. This is the point of my story where I ask you to sit back and take a look at your life. Take a look into the lives of others. It is unfair that not everyone has the same fair shot at making it big in the Hollywood scene, or at being the next big hit on the music scene. But these are things that we need to change. But for me money isn't everything. It is important in anyone's life but it doesn’t always buy you happiness. Happiness is about what you make of your life and the people who are in it.

Works Cited

Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers. Ed. Stephen Reid. 9th edition Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2011: 537-43 Print.