The Lesson

While reading “The Lesson,” it took awhile for me to find the purpose and meaning of the story at first. The “lesson” in question is gradually revealed to the reader at the same time as it is revealed to the main character, and I found that interesting. 


Similar to how the purpose of the events in the story aren’t introduced but rather revealed, Miss Moore doesn’t introduce her lesson either. She allows the students to make their own observations and ask questions, and even when the main character Sylvia asks “why did you take us here,” Miss Moore only asks why she seems so angry about it. This teaching method let the kids come to their own conclusions on economic inequality—instead of being taught about it, they experienced it firsthand. At first Sylvia is very stubborn and closed-minded towards Miss Moore and her teaching methods, but seeing the price tags on the expensive toys and the underlying feeling of shame and awkwardness when walking into an expensive store filled with frivolous things that could easily pay their parents bills, served to change Sylvia’s perspective from apprehensive to slightly more open-minded than she was in the beginning of the story. 


Another interesting thing to note is that each child gained something different from the lesson, especially Sylvia and her friend Sugar. While both Sylvia and Sugar learned that there is economic inequality that exists between them and the upper-class, Sugar seemed perfectly content with this information, and continued using the small amount of money to buy snacks. Sylvia however was more disturbed and irritated by this new information, and she became determined to strive to break the economic ceiling now that she is aware of it. 

Comments

  1. Alicia C.February 6, 2023 at 11:49 AM

    Elizabeth, I greatly agree with your observation that the main 'lesson' of the story is not immediately revealed. Even at the end, the lesson does not provide the same outcome for everyone. While we are mostly given the POV through Sylvia's eyes, we still see the interaction and responses from all the children, allowing us to get a sense of variation. It speaks to individuality, and that even one lesson can provide so wide a range of information to each person differently. The character of Miss Moore especially is less of a teacher and more of a guide, she is not telling the children what they should takeaway from the situation, but allowing them to make their own conclusions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amanda JFebruary 7, 2023 at 8:41 PM

    I like how you talked about the differences between Sugar and Slyvia. While they're both aware of some of the economic inequalities, it sits with Slyvia more.

    ReplyDelete

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