The Lesson

Well, I thought I had missed the lesson. Immediately after opening to the short story The Lesson, I recognized the story. At some point during high school, I had read the short by Toni Bambara. I couldn’t tell you what I thought of it then, but I remember thinking I had missed the lesson. I can’t recall analyzing the story and definitely cannot recall the symbolism.  Additionally, I couldn’t remember it being particularly funny. Thinking that I would “get it” this time, I read the story again. While I got more out of the story, I did not find myself laughing through it. I continually questioned which parts were meant to be humorous. In my eyes, Sylvia is a tough, young girl from a tough neighborhood. She lives in close quarters with her extended family in neighboring apartments. The apartments are described in bad condition with drunks roaming the hallways. I wasn’t sure where the humor was coming into play. Was I meant to find the living conditions funny? Because I didn’t; I felt bad for the children living there. They had to live with filth and play around it. The kids were taught by another woman because Aunt Gretchen wasn’t bright enough to teach. The parents were thankful to have someone else around to teach the children. Ms. Moore, a college educated woman, took on the role of teaching several of the neighborhood boys and girls. But, Sylvia doesn’t care much for her teacher. In fact, she calls her teacher a range of names I can’t imagine saying at that age. Sylvia even said we "laughed at her, laughed the way we did at the junk man who went about his business like he was some big-time president and his sorry-ass horse his secretary." Was this meant to be funny? Was I supposed to be laughing at her judgment? I wasn’t laughing. Later, Miss Moore takes the kids to F.A.O. Schwartz. With each toy the children look at, Miss Moore asks a question. It seemed like she was pushing their education, asking questions to encourage thought. Although, by showing the students expensive toys, Miss Moore was able to direct the kids to question a society that provides expensive toys to the more fortunate. She also caused Sylvia to feel ashamed. I don’t think her goal was to shame Sylvia, but I don’t know if she felt badly. I felt she was trying to show a side of society she didn’t agree with. She doesn’t think the kids should be ashamed and she doesn’t agree with the distribution of wealth. But, when Miss Moore is trying to drive her point home, Sylvia just turns away. She walks away and Sugar runs to catch up with her. At this point, my questioning comes full circle. Did I “get” the story? I thought I had until Sylvia ran away. Sylvia concludes by saying, “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” I feel like I missed the point. I am not sure if she meant Miss Moore, life, money, hardship, or something else. I really don’t know if I understood Bambara’s lesson, but either way, I was not laughing my way through.