The Lesson
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The Lesson, by Bambara is a story that shows us two central lessons in life. First, that life experiences are sometimes life's greatest lessons. Second, we learn a great lesson about inequality.
In the story a group of New York City children visit an FAO Schwartz toy store. The woman who took the children, Miss Moore, was their tour guide of sorts. She tells the children the facts of social inequality and seems to have a lesson to teach them about money and social structure. They see all sorts of toys and paperweights that cost more money than they could believe. The sailboat, for example, cost $1,195. The cynical narrator, Sylvia, thinks that's enough money to last forever. I think the price of these items represents to her what she will never have...