Introduction
“The Lesson” is a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara in 1972. It narrates a story of a woman, Miss Moore, trying to tell a group of children from a poor neighborhood in New York about the problems of American capitalism, which makes people unequal. The plot is a story is a number of events, following a certain pattern, which usually includes a turning point or a climax, finding an answer to a dramatic question raised in the text. The narration of the actions in a story implies the use of specific commentaries made from the first, second, or third-person perspective, aimed at conveying the main idea or theme to the audience. This essay will analyze the plot, theme, and narration strategies of the story “The Lesson,” discovering the literary elements, which are used in the text to reveal the main ideas and morals hidden in it.
Literary Elements
The Plot and Main Theme of “The Lesson”
“The Lesson” has a Freytagian way of development as it can be characterized by the basic dramatic structure of the narration using five key stages, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The story begins by portraying the group of young people, Sylvia and her friends Sugar, Mercedes Rosie Giraffe, Ronald (Big Butt), Junebug, Little Q.T., and Flyboy having a conflict with their neighbor Miss Moore. The woman, being the only educated person in the community, wants to give the children a lesson and takes them on a trip. However, the youth resists her intentions and talkback, which is typical for this age, developing the conflict throughout the whole narration.
The existence of numerous arguments between the characters is proven by their behavior in different situations. For example, the anger of Sylvia when Sugar begins to talk to Miss Moore, saying she is “disgusted with Sugar’s treachery” (Bambara 151). The anger of the narrator is one of the crucial elements, revealing the main theme of the story, demonstrating that she realizes the emotions upsetting her are much bigger and more important. It is also proven by her inability to put her feelings into words, for example, at the moment when she sees the sailboat: “For some reason, this pisses me off” (Bambara 149). Anger is masking the true emotions of the main character and shows her inner conflict.
The conflict is developing during the whole story as the main character deals with her feeling of anger and denial. The construction of the text corresponds to Freytag’s Pyramid criteria, which is proven by the use of all the basic elements. In the introduction part, Miss Moore comes to the children to ask them about their understanding of money. Among the rising actions in the story are the moments when Sylvia keeps the change in the taxi and when children look at expensive toys and dream of having them. The climax is concentrated in the scene when Sylvia and Sugar are afraid to enter the store. The falling action can be considered to be the girl’s thoughts about the inequality of the world on their way back home. The final resolution is the main character’s refusal to answer Miss Moore’s last question, targeted directly at her: “Anybody else learn anything today?” (Bambara 151). The presence of all these five stages proves the development of the plot can be considered consistent and corresponds to the Freytagian way.
The narration organization allows the author of the story to provide an insight on an important issue, being the central theme in “The Lesson”: economic injustice, which is represented by the children’s visit to an expensive toy store. There, they begin thinking about the differences between their lives and people who can make purchases in such shops. Another reflection of the main theme is Miss Moore’s words “where we are is who we are” and in the character of Mercedes as her family does not have financial problems like other kids (Bambara 150). In “The Lesson” children are learning that they do not need to settle for the current life conditions and can strive for a better life. The plot arrangement in the story increases the feeling of the suspense of the audience, making it simple for them to understand its theme.
The Narration of “The Lesson”
“The Lesson” is defined by the narration from the first-person perspective, showing the point of view of one of the children. This way of storytelling is usually associated with credibility as the narrator is the person who knows best all the nuances. The story in “The Lesson” is told by an African-American young girl discovering the world outside of her habitual neighborhood and realizing the injustice of the current economic situation. The story is narrated from Sylvia’s point of view, which is proved by the use of the pronouns “I” and “me” throughout the whole story, starting from the first lines: “…me and Sugar were the only ones just right” (Bambara 146). This way of storytelling makes the narration more vivid and credible, evoking the reader’s feelings.
In case the story was told from the third-person perspective, the audience would not be able to see that the lesson has become an important message for the narrator. By taking the children on the trip, Miss Moore wanted to tell them, and especially Sylvia, that they need to fight and strive for a better life. Seeing the events through the narrator’s eyes, the reader can understand her point of view and understand that she makes her conclusions despite the external signs of anger and irritation she is constantly showing. It is proven by the fact that the audience learns her name only after she is affected by the lesson of Miss Moore, who asks her: “You sound angry, Sylvia. Are you mad about something?” (Bambara 150). It signifies that the girl is impacted by the trip and the reader can clearly see her point of view despite her external reactions. Her thoughts on her way home also prove this understanding. From this perspective, seeing the girl’s point of view allows the reader to immerse into the plot and its hidden meaning.
The point of view, represented in “The Lesson” provides a limited level of omniscience as the narrator of the story relies only on her feelings, knowledge, and attitudes. Throughout the story, the audience sees the events from Sylvia’s perspective. For example, the reader can see her confusion and inexplicable sense of shame in the episode when Miss Moore asked her to go inside the store: “Not that I’m scared…But I feel funny, shame” (Bambara 149). In the end, she also shows her negative attitude as she feels betrayed by her best friend Sugar who started talking to Miss Moore and showed everybody that she learned the lesson. With the help of the narrator’s perspective, the audience knows that “something weird is going on” in her chest, meaning she has complex emotions about the trip and feels confused (Bambara 151). All of these episodes prove that the story presents the point of view of Sylvia, the narrator, thus providing limited omniscience. However, this technique of narration provides a good insight into the story’s theme, making the reader understand the depth of the problem.
Conclusion
“The Lesson” is a story about a group of young children taking a trip with their neighbor Miss Moore, who wants to show them another side of life, different from the one they are used to. It tells the audience about an important theme of economic injustice, represented by the main characters’ trip to an expensive toy store. With the help of the main character, Sylvia, who is the narrator of the story, the reader can see the events from her perspective and have a better understanding of the situation and the feelings of this little girl. The story gives limited insight into all the happenings, as it is told in the first person, providing the point of view of Sylvia, who seems to be the leader of the group due to her strong character.
The way the narration is done in the story helps the audience to have a better understanding of the children’s position and makes it more credible. This style of storytelling helps the reader to understand that despite the external conflict, which is developing throughout the whole text, the main character learns the lesson Miss Moore was trying to teach them. Since the narration is built according to the standard scheme of dramatic works, called Freytag’s Pyramid, the reader is being smoothly immersed in the text, observing the development of the conflict in the story. Such a plot organization allows the audience to feel increasing suspense and helps to understand the hidden messages due to the logical structure used by the author.
Work Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” Initiation Stories. An Album, Vintage, 1972, pp. 146-151.