The Lesson is a story about impoverished children taking a trip to an FAO Schwarz and coming to a realization that there is a class divide in America.
Who is Sugar?
Does the girl telling the story realize what is happening in America?
Is the only way to eliminate or change the class system for the lower class to rise up and demand change?
The kids have some idea that there is a class system in America. They know that they are poor and that the don’t come from a great neighborhood, but they don’t really know what that means in the context of things. When they see that there are people who buy toys that cost more than all the food their families can eat in a year. Sugar spews out what Miss Moore wants to hear, but then does not really think about what she has just said. She doesn’t act on it. The girl telling the story doesn’t tell Miss Moore what she wants to hear because she thinks that if she verbalizes it than it exists. As long as it isn’t verbalized it doesn’t exist in her mind. She does know what is going on, she just doesn’t want to give Moore the satisfaction of her knowing and acting on it.
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1 comment:
Good distinction between Sugar and Sylvia (the narrator).
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