Symbolism In Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, is a story about the lesson Miss Moore gives to the neighborhood children. Miss Moore decides to take the children to F.A.O. Schwarz to show them the different toys that are available on Fifth Avenue. Once the children realize the cost of these fancy toys compared to the toys available to them, they become angry. When Sylvia thinks about what her mother would say if she asked for one of the toys she saw in the store, she also thinks about what her family could buy with the money the toy costs. When Miss Moore asks the children to state their thoughts about the store that had toys that cost the amount of what could feed a large family, Sugar states she thinks it is unfair and everyone should have an equal chance

All readers have come across the stereotypical character who is charming, good-looking, and the savior of the story and our hearts, but that is present in commercial fiction. In literary fiction, characters are something greater and deeper.

In John Updike’s “A&P” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” the two authors illustrate difficult initiations teenagers face while they realize the harshness of society around them. Updike’s “A&P” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage boy, Sammy, who makes the tough decision to quit his job at the local A&P and realizes the bitterness of the world. Similarly, Bambara’s “The Lesson” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage girl, Sylvia, who realizes the value of money and clash of social classes through a field trip to a toy store. Although the protagonists are a part of different societies, they share similarities in character development through parallel epiphanies.

Symbolism is like a spider web, every symbol is connected to another symbol and it never stops. Authors use symbolism in their writing because it communicates a deeper picture and helps connect the story more to the main idea. In the book, The Natural by Bernard Malamud, there is multiple symbolic meanings used throughout the book. Each of all the symbols connect back to the main idea and create a highly detailed story.

The symbols present in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, depict the economic and social injustices faced by specific members of society, specifically the children in the story. The characters in the story are being mentored by Miss Moore, a woman from their block who has taken up the role of taking them out on weekly outings. The story touches on the situation of the children that are stuck in living in almost poverty. “The Lesson” focuses on the socioeconomic disparities between the different racial groups and how. Bambara uses several techniques such as irony, othering, and second person point of view to make the story meaningful and demonstrate the characteristics of the characters.

One of the seven deadly sins is the act of having too much pride. Pride in general is not an evil feeling to have. It is human to have pride in oneself, but having too much pride is unhealthy and will cause problems somewhere along the way. Two characters who show a harmful amount of pride are Sylvia from Toni Bambara’s “The Lesson” and Sammy John Updike’s “A&P”. A famous quotation states “Pride (arrogance) comes before Destruction... and a haughty spirit, before a fall.” A student, Destiny Orihuela claims that the said quotation applies perfectly to Sylvia and Sammy. The two characters do support the adage as Orihuela claims. Sylvia and Sammy look down on others and believe themselves to be better, the two will not admit they are ever wrong

Jerome Cartwright’s feature article on Toni Cade Bambara’s “the Lesson” was published in 1989. This piece provides a scholarly secondary source for Bambara’s short story because it was featured in The Explicator, a quarterly journal of literary criticism published by Taylor & Francis, Inc. Their website describes the journal as “a must for college and university libraries and teachers of literature”.

The short story “The Lesson” was first published in 1972. This story is in a collection called “Gorilla, My Love” with 14 other stories. Toni Bambara has also published two other novels which added to her collection. In 1977 she published “The Sea Birds Are Still Alive” as her second volume of stories. She also worked on a little bit of screenwriting. Bambara’s short fiction is notable for the creative language and her ability to capture the poetry of black speech. The author stresses the importance of knowledge for both individual growth and collective goodness. Most of her stories focus on young girls determined to make their place in the world. In “The Lesson” it shows us how wealth is unequally divided throughout America. Bambara portrays

The story Marigolds, by Eugenia Collier, shows the harsh reality of becoming an adult in the poverty stricken times of the 1930’s. The story follows a girl, Lizabeth, as she makes the tough transition from a innocent child to an adult. As Lizabeth grows into an adult she experiences new emotions such as empathy and compassion, but in order to do so she loses her childish wonder and innocence. The story touches on themes of compassion, love, and hope associated with adulthood, but also the pain and defeat that comes with it. It shows the innocence and wonder of being a child, but also the fierce and intense emotions of adolescent. These immense differences between youth and adulthood helps to contribute to the the main theme of this story:

Symbolism can use an object (like a tree of birds), or art, (like Melinda’s art project or Mr. Freeman's canvas) to represent an abstract idea. Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to hint at a certain mood or emotion, rather than just blatantly saying it. So, the use of symbolism is important because it helps create meaning and emotion in a story. Symbolism makes a book fun to read, the symbolism produces a thought provoking work of art and it, (like in this book), adds meaning to seemingly unrelated objects and elicits emotions in the

Social inequalities between black and white people are no longer as distinct as they were a few decades ago. Nevertheless, many people still have a lot of prejudices against African-Americans. The unfairness of socioeconomic status can be seen in our daily lives yet it is something that we push to the back of our minds.

Literature is frequently comprehended by most people as a mass of writings. In particular, it refers to those reckoned to have the aptitude of being inventive and rational, or which deploy languages which departed from the common usage. Global literature, on the other hand, has two different definitions where the first one explains it as the summation of all literatures of the world, including personal and nationalized work. The second definition is, global literature consists of the world’s classics, or the most sought after works that are read across time, ethnic and language borders in which they were produced and become the intercontinental patrimony of civilization. (Gafrik, 2009, p. 28) Global literature penetrates deep into cultural

Miss Moore brings the children into the toy store so they can walk around and most all of them feel out of place. Sylvia thinks to herself, “I mean, damn, I have never ever been shy about doing nothing or going nowhere … We all walkin on tiptoe and hardly touchin the games and puzzles and things” (627). She is realizing that these things are worth a lot of money, money that she does not have. After learning about the sailboat, Sylvia’s mood changes and she asks to leave, when they get back to the train she thinks about how her family is different from the people who can afford all the expensive things. “Thirty-five dollars could buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen's boy. Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Grand-daddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too” (628). She becomes frustrated because it is finally making sense to her that her family is impoverished and that thirty-five dollars would be considered a luxury to them, she knows now that there is definitely economic inequality out there and it is not within her power to fix.

William Faulkner was an American author and Nobel prize winner of 1950; in his acceptance speech, he presented the idea that it is a writer’s duty to write about the compassion, courage, and pride of the heart. Faulkner says, “It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.” In the memoir, Kabul Beauty School, a young American woman named Deborah wrote her truth about how she traveled to Afghanistan to support the women of Kabul, but she takes an unexpected turn and her heart leads her to help them in a totally different way. Deborah shows compassion, courage, pity and sacrifice through the women in Kabul. Deborah fulfills her duty through her compelling words and delineate observations of the people she is newly experiencing.

In fact, as the author in this story, Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia grew up in a very poor neighborhood. Sylvia’s understanding of the world is limited to what she experiences within her neighborhood and her tiny apartment. Scarcity and want are no strangers to her. Luckily, Sylvia and the other kids have Miss Moore as a mentor. Miss Moore begins to work within the kids’ environment to enrich them inasmuch as possible with education. Confronted with much resistance; especially from Sylvia, Miss Moore introduces Sylvia and the kids to another social class; another