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How does one know that they do not live as well as someone else does? How does one know that they live in a slum? How does one know if they are poor? The answers to these questions are through learning and experiences. Learning may come from books, newspapers, magazines, or people. People can teach through their own experiences, from their own lives, through their own words.
In The Lesson, Miss Moore teaches Sylvia and her friends through her own words and books, much to the kids displeasure. Sylvia takes great unhappiness in being forced to sit through one of Miss Moores lessons. Why was Sylvia so irritated with Miss Moore? Was there something she did not want to learn? Sylvia was a child who took great pleasure in the simple things that her family could afford for her. She was so happy because she did not know that there was anything better out there.
She felt she lived fine. As Miss Moores lesson proceeded Sylvia's attitude went from irritated to angry. She was not delighted at what she had learned. What she had learned was that she did live in a slum, that she was poor, and that there were better things out there than what she has experienced and takes joy in.
She learned the harsh reality that is called life. Miss Moore was the new woman on the block, and the children of the neighborhood never gave her a chance. Sylvia hated her nappy hair and proper speech. She despised the way she dressed and the way her parents kissed her ass. But most of all she hated the education that Miss Moore brought with her, a college education, something her parents did not have. Miss Moore represented something better than herself and her parents.
That nappy-head bitch had seen parts of the world that Sylvia had not, she had experienced things in life that Sylvia may never see. This is part of the reason Sylvia hated her so much. Miss Moore represented a better life than Sylvia could achieve, an educated one. But Sylvia also did not like Miss Moore because she opened her eyes to the reality that her life is not as perfect as she thought. Sylvia's attitudes have a dramatic change throughout the course of Miss Moores latest boring lesson.
Her first attitude is one of irritation. It is the summer and Sylvia, of all people, does not want to be sitting through this dreary lecture. She would rather go to the pool or to the show where it is cool. As Miss Moore is lecturing about money, Sylvia could care less towards what she is saying, she hears Miss Moore, but she doesnt listen to her. Eventually, Miss Moore decides to teach them a real-life lesson at New York Citys famous F. A.
O. Schwarz Toy Store. After the taxi ride, Sylvia arrived at 5 th Avenue, a very wealthy area of New York City, where some of the children immediate signs of a better living. Two things, right off the bat show the children that theyre not in Kansas anymore; they see everybody dressed up in stockings and one lady in a fur coat, hot as it is. This is where the transformation of Sylvia's attitude first starts to take place. She is no longer irritated; she is angered at the fact that there is a woman wearing a fur coat, prompting her to say, White folks crazy.
The next series of events changes Sylvia's attitude yet again. After window-shopping, her attitude goes from slightly angered to pissed off. The first item they see is a microscope for a mere three hundred dollars. The only things that Sylvia has to say in response to the microscope is that it would take too long for one of the kids to save up their allowances to buy it. Sylvia does not want to buy a toy for learning anyway. All this learning experience has done is get her pissed off.
After seeing another item for an outrageous price, Sylvia encounters an extremely expensive toy. This toy, which is a sailboat, affects her attitude the most. This sailboat, which is barely able to sail two kittens across a pond is made of handcrafted fiberglass and sells at an astonishing one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars. Unbelievable is all that Sylvia has to say in response to the sight of this toy. However, after making sure she read the correct price, she says, For some reason this pisses me off. That statement clearly shows the reader that she is upset.
Sylvia is very blunt and to the point, similar to her hatred of Miss Moore. That much money should make it last forever. The fact that the sailboat is not a yacht, and is a toy, really hits home hard for Sylvia. The window-shopping is done, and Sylvia, now changed, enters the store ashamed of whom she is. She is considerably jealous, at first of her cousin for being able to touch the sailboat, but then it hits her that it is not Sugar that she is mad at but someone else.
That someone is a person she doesnt know. A person is the one who could buy a one thousand dollar sailboat as a toy. It is here that she realizes that there is something better out there. The money that some people spend on a thirty-five dollar toy clown would be spent on bunk beds for someone in Sylvia's family. And more importantly the money spent on that one sailboat for one thousand dollars is more than the amount of money that all of the kids spend on feeding themselves. This angers Sylvia so much that she will not let Sugar respond to how the children feel about the type of people who can spend that much money on a toy sailboat.
The fact of the matter is, Sylvia is perfectly content with the four dollars she has and the ice cream she can buy with it. She doesnt need that sailboat, but she hates the fact there are people who can afford it. Not all learning experiences are good. Some eye-opening episodes in ones life can be interpreted in numerous ways. Sylvia can take the information she just acquired, that is the fact she lives in a slum, is poor, and experiences the lesser things in life, and push herself harder to find a better living.
That better living would include a better home, more money, and greater joys. The other thing that Sylvia can do with the information she has learned is to forget all about it and to accept her way of life as the way it is. Sylvia is so angered by her newfound knowledge of reality that she will not push herself to get a better life, she will accept herself for who she is. As Miss Moore said, where you are is who you are. Sylvia did not want to listen to Miss Moore because she did not want to learn that there were greater joys in life. She did not want to learn that people spent one thousand dollars on toys.
That is why she did not want to listen to Miss Moore, and that is why she was so angry with her. The trip to F. A. O Schwarz was truly a reality check for Sylvia, and she did not like what she learned.
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