The author of "The Lesson" is Toni Cade Bambara who lived from 1939 to 1995. It seems the author wrote about her own experiences. The main characters in the story are Miss Moore, Sylvia and Sugar. The narrator is Sylvia: a young girl who puts up a rough, tough front as protection from her poor, modern day, New York City environment. She deals with the circumstances in her life that she feels she has no control over, with a hard, mean act. Sylvia's cousin, Sugar, is smart but lets Sylvia bully her.
             If Sugar was the narrator of this story I believe that the whole story would take wrong approach. I don't think that Sugar would have learned the same lesson as Sylvia has from the trip. If Sugar was telling this story she would have never understood or seen what was going in Sylvia's mind. Sugar would have never seen Sylvia encounters the material wealth represented by the toys. Sugar would have never able to tell what was going in Sylvia mine when she Sylvia was compares her world with the excess she sees at the toy store, how she becomes angry and resentful. If Sugar were telling this story she wouldn't have able to tell how Sylvia takes her anger out on others indiscriminately to guard herself from her new thoughts and feelings. Sugar would have never able tell that Sylvia is hiding her envy of wealth with anger. How She doesn't want to admit to herself that she is jealous of the kind of people who can afford these toys. It is too traumatic for Sylvia to know and feel !
             the helplessness of being born into poverty.
             Sylvia physically heading in a different direction is symbolic of the change she is feeling due to what she has been exposed to. I believe these are the moments that change the course of people's lives. Miss Moore saw something special in Sylvia and knew that if she could reach her, Sylvia would have a strong influence on the others. I also believe that this another reason why if th...