A Lesson Well Learned

A Lesson Well-Learned

In Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson”, the main focus was on the need for education and the results of knowledge. This story illustrates how learning can lead to discomfort and how discomfort is a necessary ingredient for positive change. Sylvia, the narrator, learned a very important lesson in life, but had too much pride to admit it. She finds it much easier to dismiss the facts because it was more convenient that way. How many times have we been proven wrong in life and not been able to admit it. Instead, we make excuses for the reason things turned out differently.

Sylvia is street-smart, witty, arrogant, tough, cynical and African-American. In the course of the story, Sylvia is disillusioned about the worldly society she is a part of. Sylvia could say words that would put a sailor to shame. Against her will, she is forced to realize the unfairness of life and her often low position in the scheme of things. Many of life’s most valuable experiences are learned by force, not by choice. I remember growing up and my mother would ask me to do something, I would ask, “Why?” My mother’s response would be, “….because I am the parent and you are the child, …..because I said so, …….because I pay the bills, …….because this is my house.” There were many times when things just did not make sense, but I complied anyway. I am very grateful for those times, because I am a better person today. Our Heavenly Father operates in a similar way. He often asks us to do things that do not make any sense to us. This is because we are operating in the natural realm – not the spiritual realm. Our Father is preparing us for what is to come. He will never reveal everything to us because we would not have any reason to have faith or believe in His power.

Miss Moore makes a comment to Sylvia and the others about how much things cost, how much money the parents make, and the unequal division of wealth in the United States. This comment really upsets Sylvia as...