The Lesson

The Lesson

The major theme of the story was creating awareness in adolescents about what life has to offer. The nature of human beings of accepting the realities of life to such an extent that apathy and lethargy sets in, is what proves to be destructive for the social fabric of today’s world. In this stagnation, Mrs. Moore provides the impetus required for people to realize their god given right to something better. We are told that Mrs. Moore has a college degree, is well dressed most of the times, and has a good command on her language. She seems to be a kind of a person who has seen the world. She has experienced life, and wants to use that experience in providing the children with an opportunity to broaden their horizons. This opportunity that she strives to provide is opening their eyes to the true nature of life and not by giving them money and bombarding their psyche with moralistic attitudes.

The story showcases the lack of aspirations of a culture. It takes us through the point of view of the children, who think of nothing but entertainment, and through the mind frame of the adults who have resigned their lives to mediocrity. Mrs. Moore proves to be the catalyst that sets alight the imagination of the children. She realizes that by just telling the children that there is something better out there, she will not be able to instill in them a sense of longing; an aspiration to achieve something better in life. She employs keener methods to get their attention. She goes about their schooling on traditional subjects like arithmetic and English; however, she also makes them go along with her on trips that help in broadening their perspectives. At times, she asks them to question the way of things, and realize that they are not receiving enough of the prosperity that they deserve to have.

We see that as society struggles against new ideas, so did the children. They did not readily take to Mr. Moore’s indoctrination. In the text the author says that

“And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I don’t feature. And I’m ready to speak on that , but she steps out in the street and hails two cabs just like that.”

We realize that Mrs. Moore is trying to open their eyes to the world around them, when she takes them on a trip around the expensive shopping complexes of the city. As Mrs. Moore takes them through these areas, we get the distinct impression that Sylvia gets