Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson

When we read literature, we are almost always asked, “What is the purpose of this story?” Literature serves a twofold purpose, which is to entertain and inform. While most stories have some aspect of entertainment to them, there is sometimes always an underlying message that the author wants to inform us. The message we learn about can better help us understand the story from a different perspective than the first time we read it. In stories like “The Lesson,” “The Birth-Mark,” and “A Rose for Emily,” we can learn about problems that are still happening today. These stories are only some of the many with meaningful messages that, when read, can change perspectives on many things.

In Toni Cade Bambara’s, “The Lesson,” we follow a group of children …show more content…
Miss Moore, their teacher, takes them to the store in hopes of teaching the kids a valuable lesson. The narrator, Sylvia, a young African American girl takes us through her POV on the field trip and brings a lot of comedy to the story due to her stubborn and head strong attitude. She makes comments that brought out some laughs due to how honest and harsh she was at such a young age. The other kids also brought a lot of comedy to the story with the antics and attitudes at the toy store. While there was some comedy to this story, we are brought to a moment of vulnerability by Slyvia that changes the way we feel somewhat. Slyvia gets told to go in, but she thinks, “When we get there, I kinda hang back. Not that I’m scared, what’s there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, ashamed. But what do I have to be ashamed of? Got as much right to go in as anybody.” (page 162) This is the first moment that we see Sylvia doubt herself and it makes us realize just how different her environment is to the one she is in right …show more content…
The story is centered around a couple, Aylmer, a brilliant scientist, and Georgiana, a beautiful angelic woman. There is one flaw in Georgiana that distracts Aylmer from the rest of her, her birthmark. This birthmark is crimson red and is located on her cheek. Georgiana has never been bothered by her birthmark until Aylmer says her face is almost perfect and the mark is shocking to him. Aylmer obsesses over the mark and deems it a sin. He wants it gone so his wife can be perfect for him, so he experiments ways he can get rid of it. The entertainment of this story comes from the obsessive love of science and the aspects of mother nature within the story. We go through all these elements of science within the story, and it fascinates me. There are potions, poison, alchemy, and all the many ideas that prove just how brilliant Aylmer is. The need to achieve perfection is a message I believe many can relate to, and this story shows just how deadly that obsession can be. While we are taken through the story, we come to understand how unrealistic Aylmer's needs are. His wife, who feels she is not loved for how she is, sacrifices herself due to her husband's view that she needs to be perfect. In the end, Aylmer created something for Georgiana to drink and it gets rid of the birthmark. Aylmer states, “My peerless bride, it is successful! You are perfect!” (page 377)

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