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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of “The Lesson” shifts from lighthearted to heavy over the course of the story. In the beginning of the story, Sylvia—the young narrator—complains about her teacher, her family, and her neighborhood friends in edgy yet good-humored ways. While it’s clear that she is frustrated with having to attend Miss Moore’s informal school (since she just wants to spend time with her best friend Sugar), the stakes of the story are initially very low.
The mood changes when Miss Moore’s lesson for the day proves to pack an emotional punch for Sylvia. After Miss Moore, Sylvia, and her peers take the subway to Midtown Manhattan, they spend some time looking through the windows at the expensive toys inside FAO Schwarz. While this is fun for Sylvia at first, she starts to grow uncomfortable, especially when Miss Moore tells them it’s time to go inside the store. The following passage captures the change in mood as Sylvia loses some of her characteristic confidence:
[M]e and Sugar turn the corner to where the entrance is, but when we get there I kinda hang back. Not that I’m scared, what’s there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, shame. But what I got to be shamed about? Got as much right to go in as anybody. But somehow I can’t seem to get hold of the door, so I step away for Sugar to lead. But she hangs back too. And I look at her and she looks at me and this is ridiculous. I mean, damn, I have never ever been shy about doing nothing or going nowhere.
While Sylvia retains her conversational tone here, the mood clearly shifts. She is no longer romping around with her friends in a carefree manner, but, instead, “hang[s] back” and “feel[s] [...] shame.” She tries to talk herself out of it but “can’t seem to get hold of the door” and “step[s] away,” wondering why she is suddenly “shy” when she has never felt that way before.
This moment is significant—while Sylvia can’t figure out why she’s behaving this way, readers can intuit that Sylvia is, for the first time, reckoning with the way that her society positions her as less-than because she is poor and Black. This heavier mood continues through the rest of the story as Sylvia tries to absorb this experience of reckoning with the racial wealth divide in New York (and American society writ large).
Related Themes:
