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Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of “The Lesson” is primarily angry and dissatisfied. Sylvia—the first-person narrator—is perpetually frustrated with her teacher Miss Moore, who, she complains early on in the story, is “always planning these boring-ass things for us to do.” Sylvia continues to direct her ire toward Miss Moore as the teacher takes Sylvia and her peers on a group field trip to FAO Schwarz.
Significantly, when confronted with the exorbitant prices of the toys at the store, Sylvia’s angry tone is redirected from Miss Moore to wealth inequality, as seen in the following passage:
Thirty-five dollars could buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen’s boy. Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Granddaddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too. Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1,000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?
Here Sylvia reflects with disdain on the fact that a clown toy costs $35 when that same amount of money could “buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen’s boy,” fund a “visit [to] Granddaddy Nelson in the country,” or “pay for the rent and the piano bill too.” Her final question about the people who can afford such things—“What kinda work they do […] and how come we ain’t in on it?” communicates her righteous rage about the fact that wealthy White people have better jobs and more resources, and that she and her impoverished Black community have no way to access such things.
Ultimately, Bambara uses this story to communicate that the alienation and anger that Black children feel should be directed at unjust systems rather than at their fellow Black people (like Miss Moore) who are helping them wake up to the reality of such unjust systems.
Related Themes:
