The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

 The lesson by Toni Cade Bambara introduces how one can escape from poverty. The story deals with identity, race, and economic inequality. In the story, the children comes face to face with reality.The story starts with a young black girl named Sylvia and a group of lower-class children who lives in poverty, and a colleged-educated woman named, Miss. Moore. Miss More takes it upon herself to teach the children about the neighborhood and to educate themselves. Miss More decides to take the children on a trip to the Toy Store on Fifth Avenue, where the toys are extremely expensive. The children contemplate the extremely high prices in disbelief. They talk about what could justify such an outrageous cost, when their own toy sailboats cost fifty cents to one dollar. The materials such as a paperweight and sailboats shows the importance of money. The sailboat was a is a symbol about having boat toy that helps expand their imagination For example, children would fantasize that a toy can take them to magical places, away from reality and gives us our wanted freedom. For every child this fantasy is different, but for the kids in the story, their dreams seems to be based on money and a life more rewarding than the one they are living. Miss Moore is trying to help teach kids through using these symbols that all the wonders at within their reach, but to be able to ever have such luxuries, one must work hard and overcome social obstacles that stand in the way. Sylvia and and another student get a weird feeling when they enter the store; a feeling that they didn’t belong there because the place felt too expensive.  Miss Moore uses the trip to highlight how an unjust economic and social system creates unfair access to money and to show the students how reality is. The "lesson" on inequality is spread upon the children that there is a way out and if they want to achieve the American American dream, they must aim higher.