The Lesson Analysis

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The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a story of a disobedient little girl and her group of kids who were bundled up one summer day to go with Miss Moore to a toy store. Sylvia and her cousin Sugar are with Fat Butt, Rosie Giraffe, Mercedes, Q. T., Junebug, and Flyboy, not their real names but nicknames given to them by Sylvia. The names came from their most obvious trait, Fat Butt for his fondness for food, Mercedes for her ritzy tastes, Q. T., is the youngest, and Rosie Giraffe is always ready to kick asses. One may guess Sugar is for her being the exact opposite of sourly Sylvia. Miss Moore wants to teach the kids about money, specifically, how much of it can buy what. Her objective really is to make them see how much they cannot afford compared with what the rest of their fellow citizens can, half of which are Caucasians. If there is one thing that can sure catch the interest of kids, it’s a toy. So Miss Moore took them to an upscale toy store at Fifth Avenue, when all the toys the kids knew and had were from Pop’s. The tone of the story is sarcastic all throughout, from Sylvia’s first person point of view. …show more content…

Though some critics might suggest that Sylvia is stealing the money from Miss Moore, yet it is more likely that she now conscious of the value of money where prior to going to the toy store and in the taxi in particular she had no concept of money. Taking Miss Moore’s four dollars is a valuable lesson for Sylvia. It causes her to think while Sugar can only think about buying sweets with the four dollars. It is also interesting that each of Sylvia’s friends want something from F.A.O Schwartz and it is possible that Bambara is attempting to highlight how similar or equal all children are. Though again only the very wealthy (and white) appear to be able to shop in F.A.O. Schwartz. Which suggests a lack of racial equality and a difference among

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