The Lesson

Racism and Altruism in “The Lesson”

In “The Lesson” Toni Cade Bambara tells a story through the eyes of Sylvia, a socially ignorant, young, underprivileged girl, living in a typical African American neighborhood. Miss Moore, who remains altruistic throughout the story, believes in the children living around her and try to give them advice for the White dominated world they live in. Sylvia’s ignorance leads her to believe that she is in control of her own life and that she needs help from no one. Also, Sylvia takes the role of the leader inside her group of friends, where she bullies and bosses around the others.

Sylvia is led to believe that she runs her own life when in reality the white racist community does. One tactic Miss Moore uses to show the children the harshness of the world is to take them around to local shops and stores. At first, Sylvia and Sugar felt somewhat embarrassed to enter a toy store since they did not have the money to actually buy anything in it. The prices in the shops show the children just where they stand in society. “Handcrafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars.” To which Sylvia says, “Unbelievable.” Seeing the outrageous prices of material objects makes them realize the importance of money in the white racist society they were trapped in. What the children could not understand

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was how White people got all the money to pay for a toy sailboat that cost more than a full month of food. How just thirty five dollars could pay for so much in Sylvia’s world yet all the rich people were just spending money on the finer objects in life that she may never have a chance to interact with. Another issue that Sylvia did not understand was why her family was not employed in the jobs where all the money was made.

Throughout the story, Miss Moore is altruistic and continues to reach out to her community and the children she cares for. Miss Moore is aged and knows how the world works. She is also educated more than what the children have come in contact with on a regular basis. She believes in the children and gives them the trust they deserve. Also, no one asks Miss Moore to look after these children. She does it out of the kindness of her heart. One instance of Miss Moore trusting and believing in the children’s intelligence is when she hailed