Critical Analysis of "The Lesson"
Critical Analysis of "The Lesson"
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 Moore’s 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 Moore’s 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...