The Story “The Lesson” by Tony Cade Bambara, Essay Example

In the story “The Lesson” by Tony Cade Bambara, the author himself wanted to show her readers about the adverse effect of social inequality among children and how they view life as they grow older. The story starts out in defining the ideal process by which a society improves through time because of economic feats. Miss Moore, a black American woman, however saw such improvement at a different light. Noticeably, her character proposes a definite insistence on how a young woman becomes highly distinctive especially in making a mark on how modern living has created a distinct course of change on how she and her community leaves apart from the white Americans surrounding their community. This theme of the story makes it a source of common thinking, explained through the eyes of the author and through the distinct condition by which an educator might envision the resolutions to the problems occurring in the society.

This writing was evidently a presentation on how social inequality is presented through social economic disparity. The author’s background as a social analyst is something that made her more capable of writing about the course of living that the Black Americans had to deal with apart from what the White Americans were actually dealing with. This is why she was able to create a character that would best fit such role of making a difference in the personality of Miss Moore. Being an educator places Miss Moore at the perfect position to make a mark on the people in the society. Noticeably, Moore’s capacity to become more effective in sending out her message to the society was somewhat effective, especially that she held a prominent position in the community, making it easier for her voice to be recognized by the members of her community (Friedman, 2011). Most often than, teachers are understood to have the most common-place representation of what education means to a particular community. Their capability to influence others is what makes them rather distinct, especially in embracing a character that fully fits them and that of the individuals they hope to affect (Friedman, 2011). Knowing more about the world surrounding them, teachers have become a very positive source of knowledge that creates a more definitive course of insistence on how people’s perceptions change the way they embrace development and social transformation accordingly (.

On the part of Miss Moore, she became very observant [and was rather alarmed] of the fact that most of the children in her community were less aware of their situation; most likely not even giving attention to matters that should help mold the way they see their own society and the society that exists outside theirs. Most noticeably, Bambara utilizes the position of Miss Moore as an educator to be the [supposedly] changing factor that will make it easier for the community to become more involved especially in the way that their thoughts become fully enlightened by the fact that they transform into knowledgeable individuals who know much about the situations surrounding them (Friedman, Internet).

Utilizing the children as the primary individuals to have been shown the reality about their living makes a distinct sense of presentation on how the author wants to point out how the realization of the younger generation about the situation could create better options of future for a community that has long been oppressed and paralyzed by the condition of thinking and stereotyping culture that they have been accustomed to due to the application of social norms. In their case, the point of realization on the part of the children that Miss Moore wanted to help put came in a way that they have been shown what was outside their community (Bambara, 120) ; what was real about monetary value and social inequality and finally what was true about how the outside society views the black American communities in their areas (Wright, 211)

Miss Moore’s little experiment consisted of a particular sense of control especially on how the students are supposed to understand the inequality in the society they are living in apart from those who are considered more fortunate than themselves. Practically, Miss Moore wanted the children to see the actual situation, not simply telling them stories about the matter; she believed that if she wanted them to see what’s happening, then perhaps, they would be able to make a move themselves; and that the sceneries they saw would stay in their heads and would make a mark on how they understand the comparison between who was accepted fully and who was distinctively noted as somewhat unfortunate in their lifetime (Wright, 45). The young black Americans were the ones who were expected to make a change; to push for something new that would certainly create a mark on how the lessons learned from such experiments would actually mandate the kind of development that would redefine their communities in the near future.

Was the lesson learned resulted to such an ideal purpose? The sad truth was ‘no’. The author utilizes a visual presentation on how the toys of the white Americans where shown to have had a much more expensive rate; almost three times the overall cost of the income of families of the students in their own communities (Friedman, 2011). This was supposed to make a mark on the thinking and perception of the students; however, as the story goes on, it has been shown that such visualization created a more distinct desire to reach for such status of living. Instead of putting a sense of realization on the part of the children as they embrace their role as the future of their communities, the scenario created personal desires instead of aspirations directed towards pursuing specific goals that are more personal and more selfish than expected.

The problem with the experiment that was presented in the story was that it did not involve a brief description of the situation to be expected before it was actually implemented. The goal of the author in this part of the story was to show how random opportunities are often responded to by humans who are supposed to be thinking more about others instead of themselves alone. This part of the story was rather a wakeup call.

Most often than not, when humans see something that they do not have, they think about themselves first, instead of thinking others [who may belong to them] who might not have the same matters. To artistically represent her message, Bambara made it possible for the readers to see through the eyes of the students; a common individual would of course become more focused on himself than that of her fellowmen’s needs. Does that mean that the future is doomed? Not really. The fact is, the narrative aims to show that if directed fully, the right members of the society would have a better chance at transforming situations and inducing particular aspects of development that are most often than not directive of what is needed to create massive improvements in the community (Friedman, 2011).

What makes this narrative reflective of the reality is that often times, when a person is given the chance to see reality, he carries himself first before he intends to make something out of the situation and make sure to apply it in caring for others’ needs. The mistake of putting too much attention on one’s self often creates a definite sense of conflict on how the value of human nature is recognized to create a supposed change in the community while personal perceptions often make a differential consideration over the same matter (Friedman, 2011).

The applicability of the thoughts and messages shared through ther particular narrative insists on how Bambara intended to open up the minds of her readers through the being of Miss Moore and her students. Challenging each reader to apply her personal capacity to sacrifice for others, the writing of Bambara obviously tries to point out how a good essence of perceiving the world does more to mandate a sense of consideration on how the world transforms as a whole and not on how each person aims to gain personal improvement first before others [which is a common trend among humans at present]. Overall,  it is rather clear that this writing was indeed labeled as a literary piece especially that it makes a definite intention of utilizing a social writing into something that is aimed at completing a desire to make changes or transformation in the communities to whom the work have been specifically made for.

Works Cited

Friedman, Joe. “Review of Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson“. HubPages. HubPages Inc. 2011.

Bambara, T.C. (1972). The Lesson.