Paper Topic:

`The lesson` by Toni Cade Bambara

p The lesson` by Toni Cade Bambara

Introduction

The Lesson by Toni Bambara , was written by her in the year 1972 . She has given a very interesting story relevant to that time . Many of the sensitive issues depicted by her are relevant even today , though stand much diluted . The theme of the story and the author 's attitude towards the theme , both evoke curiosity . The level of detachment achieved by the author in the story is commendable . Without giving room for too much sentimentalism , situations manifest clearly , grow and attain new

dimensions . The story deserves an outstanding position on account of this approach . The mutual interaction over the situations , between different characters , reveal in the most natural way , the convictions for which the story stands for . This is the uniqueness of the story . The subject matter of the story is new , the narrations beautiful , and therefore this becomes a rare creation . The author has dealt with this new in her lucid style , and as the story develops , it becomes poignant , without losing its ground and reality . This is a gem of a story

What Lesson is about

The greatest merit of Lesson ' is its non-genre plot . It is not easy to develop such types of plots . Symbolisms , humanism , use of appropriate language are the other highlights of the story . The location of the plot of the story is New York City . They say , It is better to deserve without receiving , than to receive without deserving ' - this could be the attitude of black children and families of the yore in America , but not the ones of the modern America like Sylvia . She is sensitive , is willing to cross the obstacles in the life-path . She belongs to the `combustible ' younger generation , not willing to accept everything and anything related to injustice , lying low . She views and tries to analyze everything in the correct perspective . She has many `whys ' and `why nots ' in the mental sheaths of her mind . Mrs . Moore is the only woman in the neighborhood to earn a degree , and she feels it her moral duty to teach the poor , uneducated children . But this African American girl Sylvia , dislikes that they are being taught by Mrs . Moore . She hates her (probably for historical reasons ) as she contemptuously observes , we kinda hated her too , hated the way we did the winos who cluttered up our parks and pissed on our hand ball walls (Bambara 121

One day , Ms . More takes the children to Schwartz , an expensive toy store , for she feels that children need to earn something practical This is the concrete example , how Bambara uses symbolism in her attempt to analyze socio-cultural and economic issues . Sylvia focuses on a weight and a sailboat . Firstly she doesn 't know what the genuine use of the weight is . Bambara highlights the `ignorance ' of the poor as for the expensive utilities and articles of luxury used by the rich class . Sylvia thinks about the weight thus : my eyes tell me it...

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