”The Lesson” by T. C. Bambara Literary Analysis

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is the short story that uncovers the theme of the racial inequality and the deep divided between the whites, who held the dominant position in society, and African Americans, who held the inferior position in society. This theme of the racial inequality and social injustice was brought to the author by the historical background of the 1960s and 1970s when the Civil Rights Movement grew particularly strong as the ultimate protest against the persisting inequality and injustice (Forsythe 144). Therefore, The Lesson became the ultimate manifestation of the historical background and the huge gap that existed in society between rich and prosperous white and poor and desperate African Americans, who were doomed to live in poverty.

The author does not reveal the theme of racial inequality and social injustice openly. Instead, she does it implicitly. The author depicts the African American community from the standpoint of children, the main characters and the narrator of the story. Children are unaware of existing problems but still they notice that something is going wrong in society but they cannot understand what is wrong. To uncover the essence of their problems, Bambara introduces the character of Miss Moore, who is absolutely certain in the deceitful policies conducted by the government and persisting racial inequality and social injustice that still prevailed in the US, in spite of formal changes that occurred in the 1960s – 1970s. The author conveys the atmosphere of that time succinctly and perfectly. In such a context, the choice of children as the main character is the best choice the author could have made because children are naïve but they have high expectations and their worldview is not overshadowed by some ideologies or biases. They perceive the world as it is but they are  not always capable to understand everything in such a complicated world.

Moreover, the author uses children as the main characters with the help of which she uncovers the full extent to which the American society she described was unjust and unfair in relation to African Americans. Children grow up in society where they feel being outcasts. However, they cannot change their position for better because they are always excluded and viewed as outcasts (Andrew 205). They are not taken as equal and they are accustomed to such an inferior position in society. The author attempts to show that African Americans may try to follow the lead of those, who know the essence of the problem, as is the case of Miss Moore in the short story, but their problem is their inability to communicate their ideas to other community members.

At the same time, she also reveals the response of African Americans to the persisting inequality and social injustice. This response is naïve but bold, especially, when Sylvia is determined not to let anyone make her any harm: “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 9). In such a way, Sylvia is ready to struggle for her rights and wellbeing and this is probably the main conclusion the audience can make about the book. This is the claim to the audience to start the active struggle regardless of the racial background of the audience. She claims to struggle for rights and liberties of African Americans and the boldness of Syliva shows her boldness to struggle and confront any danger she may potentially face in her life in the course of the struggle.

Furthermore, the author also shows that the main characters remain unaware of the core of the problem. They see that something is wrong but they cannot get the point. Miss Moore is fully aware of the social injustice and the inferior position of African Americans, who are like outcasts in the US society. She is fully aware of causes and effects of such inequality but she cannot explain it to children. Instead, children just watch toys which are too expensive for them and they grow angry and desperate but still they fail to understand that they cannot have those ties because of the persisting racial inequality and social injustice.

In such a context, it is quite symbolic that Bambara uses the image of children and Miss Moore to show the failure of the main characters to understand the essence of their problems. In this regard, the author probably attempted to use the metaphor to show that African Americans are just like children in their views on the existing social order (Wright 191). They feel injustice but they do not realize what the major drivers of the persisting inequality and their poverty are. They still have to understand those causes but the main point slips their minds just as it does in case of Sylvia and her friends.

In such a situation, Miss Moore is the symbolic representation of leaders of African American community. They are aware of the essence of the problem, its causes and devastating effects, but they cannot even explain adequately and properly to their community members what roots of the problem are. As a result, even though leaders of African American community are aware of the essence of the problem they cannot communicate the problem to community members. Hence, they cannot unite them in their struggle for equality and elimination of the social injustice and racial discrimination.

In this regard, the short-story was apparently inspired by the Civil Rights Movement which emerged as the ultimate protest of African American community. African Americans were like Sylvia in the end of the story. They were ready to not let anybody ‘beat them at nothing’, but their leaders were like Miss Moore, they understood the problem and its essence but failed to open eyes of African Americans on the problem and its roots (Friedman 176). They were just like Miss Moore aware of the problem but incapable to resolve it by communicating it to African Americnas and uniting them to conduct the large scale struggle. At this point, it was just Martin Luther King Jr., who was probably capable to unite and lead them, but his assassination led to the ultimate decline of the Civil Rights Movement and the division of the movement into multiple movements that pursued different goals instead of being united. Just like the main characters of the book, African American civil rights activists chose two different was of the development of their movement. On the one hand, some preferred devoted to King’s principles of non-violence, while others were not going to afford the oppression anymore and were ready to use violent methods to gain equality. The Black Panthers and other radical movements were proponents of such aggressive solution of problems of African Americans. Others, including proponents of King’s ideas insisted on the ongoing civil rights activism.

Thus, the short story The Lesson reveals the full extent to which the US society in the 1970s was still unjust and vulnerable to the social injustice and inequality. The author depicts the picture of the American society of her time and reveals the importance of the proper communication between leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, civil rights activists and other people in their community to urge the majority to undertake required changes.

Works Cited:

Andrew, Richard. “The Man Who Was Almost a Man.” The Story and Its Writer. Ed. Ann Charters. Compact 8th ed. California: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.

Bambara, T.C. The Lesson.

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

Forsythe, David P. Human Rights in the New Europe: Problems and Progress. University of Nebraska Press, 1994

Wright, Richard. The Man Who Was Almost a Man. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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