Sylvias Struggle in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay -- Sylvia’s

Toni Cade Bambaras The Lesson revolves around a young black girls cope to come to foothold with the role that economic injustice, and the larger social injustice that it constitutes, plays in her life. Sylvia, the storys protagonist, initially is reluctant to acknowledge that she is a victim of poverty. Far from existence oblivious of the disparity between the rich and the poor, however, one might say that on some subconscious level, she is in fact aware of the inequity that permeates golf club and which contributes to her inexorably disadvantaged economic situation. That she relates poverty to shameBut I feel funny, shame. But what I got to be shamed about? Got as often right to go in as anybody (Bambara 604)offers an indication as to why she is so hard-pressed to concede her substandard socioeconomic standing in the larger scheme of things. Sylvia is forced to finally address the true state of her place in society, however, when she observes firsthand the stark contrast betwe en the rich and the poor at a fancy toy store in Manhattan. Initially furious about the blinding disparity, her emotionally charged reaction ultimately culminates in her credenza of the real state of things, and this acceptance in turn cultivates her resolve to take action against the socioeconomic inequality that verily afflicts her, ensuring that aint nobody gonna standard me at nuthin (606). The Lesson posits that far from being insurmountable, economic and social injustice can be risen above, but it is necessary that we first acknowledge the role that it plays in our lives, and then determine to take action against it indifference, and the inaction that it breeds, can only serve to perpetuate such injustices.Sylvias languid regard for Miss Mo... ... The extraordinary access to higher education and employment (African American np) that African Americans have been party to since the Civil Rights Movement speaks strongly to the opportunities for change that this country affords its citizens. However, the value of the struggle cannot be lost on us. We must recognize that such fundamental change does not manifest itself overnight it is achievable only where a perdurable commitment to it is available. Change is not beyond us. Action, however, is its necessary predecessor.Works CitedBambara, Toni, Cade. The Lesson. New York The Continuum Publishing Corporation, 1972.Cartwright, Jerome. Bambaras The Lesson. The Explicator 47.3 (Spring 1989) 61-64. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. African American Web. 27 Nov. 2014. http//www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/African_American