Comparing The Lesson And Gwendolyn Brooks The Lovers Of The Poor

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “The Lovers of the Poor” by Gwendolyn Brooks correlate in their themes. Bambara writes about a young girl growing up in Harlem named Sylvia, who struggles with poverty and inequality in her life. Similarly in her poem, Brooks also writes about poverty and social inequality in people’s lives. Both authors were exceptionally influential black women who wrote about racial and social inequality throughout their many works. These two pieces of works are particularly similar in the way the authors describe the higher classes in comparison to the poor. They both differentiate the two classes clearly, making it clear to readers the different lives rich and poor people live. To continue, Brooks and Bambara’s themes about poverty align and differ in the readings. Brooks’ poem is told from the view of

Both Bambara and Brooks incorporate the theme of economic classes in their works. The Ladies’ Betterment League and the rich who can afford luxuries such as toy sailboats signify the upper class. The derelict poor in Brooks’ poem and the children growing up in the slums signify the lower class. There is a clear differentiation between the two classes. The ladies in the league “try to avoid inhaling the laden air,” of the poor’s homes. They cannot even breathe the same air simply because they have more money. This is similar to Sylvia's reaction to the expensive toy store. She did not want to step foot into the store because she felt as though she did not belong there. It was an innate reaction to feel out of place there for Sylvia. The toy store with the expensive price tags is an opposite world to Sylvia, just as the poor’s “slums” are new to the women in the Ladies Betterment League. The two economic classes are so different they cannot genuinely interact with each other. There is no correlation in the two classes, as the upper class is not willing to support the