Classless Societies Are Everywhere

America is a nation that is well known for its classifying of society. The classifications are categorized into many things. Some of which include nationality, the amount of money that a person has, the disability of someone, etc... In Toni Cade Bambara's short story, "The Lesson", there are many symbols that provide proof of how America is separated. There are three symbols that stand out the most in the story. These symbols include money, the toy store, and the names of the characters. In the story there seems to be two different societies; white vs black and rich vs poor. "The Lesson" has three great symbols that prove America is not a classless society.

Money is a major symbol that represents the discrimination between whites and blacks, also between rich and poor. Money is a universal symbol because it not only classifies the way society works in the story, but society in the world is classified by the amount of money they have. At the beginning of the story, Miss Moore tells the children that "money ain't divided up right in this country" (Bambara 116). As a symbol, money is the most important and most used in the story. The children are at a toy store, located in a wealthier city, and they are comparing the prices of the toys with ones that they would have. While the children are examining the prices of the toys at the toy store, they "[i]magine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven" (121). These children thought of the needy, and that there are poor families in the world who need food, yet the society decides the have high prices on toys. Society only thinks of themselves rather than those who really need the money for food and shelter. Money is also a symbol of power. For example, if a family has a lot of money then they seem to have more power than those who don't have much money.

The toy store has different items that are great examples of how much availability the people has when it comes to buying material goods. Miss Moore takes a group of children to a toy store, F. A. O. Schwarz, which is in the city. When they arrived to the city they children noticed how the wealthy people dress. They saw a lady dressed "in a fur coat", and it was hot out (Bambara 117). In the story the toy store is a literary symbol. This is because not all toy stores are prejudice against people who are different. While the children are at the toy store, they first look at all the fascinating toys that the store has. They then look at the prices of the toys, and they notice how overly expensive they are. The store represents the inequality between these two societies. They white/wealthy people have toy stores that have good quality toys, where as the black/poor people do not have the opportunity to purchase material goods that have good quality. Outside the toy store, the children look at a microscope (117). They look at the price of it and notice that it costs $300. Miss Moore question two of the children "how long'd take for Big Butt and Junebug to save up their allowances" in order to purchase this microscope (118). They told her that it was take too much time for them to save up that much money. The toy store in the story sets high prices for their toys. They assume that only rich/white people purchase items from there, yet others do shop at the store. Also when the children are at the toy store one of them says, "Must be rich people shop here" (119). The store is prejudicially pricing their toys, so that the poor can not afford these items.

The names of the characters are very unique in their own way and have a meaning of their own which represent the classless society. Miss Moore, who is the teacher of the children, has a name that is very symbolic. Her name symbolizes the fact that she wants more for her children; hence the name "Moore". While Miss Moore takes the children to the city, she "hands [Silvia] a five-dollar bill and tells [her] to calculate 10 percent tip for the driver" (Bambara 117). Miss Moore wants the children to learn more everyday, whether it is about money or basic society. Miss Moore is trying to inform the children of how the society functions, and who really gets more attention and pleasure. She is really the only opportunity that the children have for education. Being that the children are black and poor, the society sees them as lower class. In turn, they really are not appreciative of the blacks and the poor, so society believes that they should not receive a formal education, except for what they can get.

Another character, which also has a symbolic name, belongs to one of the children. This child's name is Mercedes. She has a name that is literary because there are many people who have the name Mercedes, but the name does not always symbolize the same thing. Of these children, Mercedes is considered the "rich one of the group". This name is also ironic because she is black and poor, yet she has a name like Mercedes. If this is explored correctly then it is found that the name Mercedes is the name of a sports car. Usually sports cars are expensive and worth something. The children are not too fond of Mercedes because she thinks she is boss and knows everything. One of the children, Rosie Giraffe, wanted someone to approach her and ask her if she was from Georgia. The only reason for this is because she wanted to tell them to "kick ass" (117). She really wanted Mercedes to, so she could yell at her. Rosie does not like Mercedes all that much. Mercedes' name symbolizes the rich portion of the group. It shows that she is not just poor and black, yet her family may have more money than the others do.

Discrimination is found all over the world, especially in America. This is proven in Toni Cade Bambara's short story, "The Lesson". Throughout the story there are examples of different ways in which America's society is not classless. The classes in which are being classified are between white vs. blacks and between rich vs. poor. An element that helps to describe how America is not classless is the symbol. There are symbols found throughout the story. There are many different short stories, books, movies, even recordings that show how the nation is divided up into different classes.