The coming of age
The coming of ageThe Coming of Age
Childhood is a time where children learn about the world around themselves. They see and experience many factors that influence their everyday lives, which help them grow stronger when they become adults. In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara the characters within the stories learn valuable lesson with help them grow to become better individuals. In “The Lesson” the character of Sugar undergoes a realization that society does not treat everyone equally, that not every individual has the same opportunity and equality that they should have. In “Girl” the main character learns that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a slut, her mother brings to her attention of how the world is and what she must to do in order to survive in it. Lessons that children learn all help them grow to become better individuals, in “Girl” and “The Lesson” the lessons that the characters learn both help them grow to become better and stronger individuals.
In “The Lesson” the character, Sugar undergoes a realization of the world around her, through her teacher Miss Moore, Sugar notices that there is a better way of living in the world besides, her own little world with her friends. Sugar says, “You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think that all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs,” (Bambara 452). Miss Moore is an African American woman who has broken through the expectation that society has placed on her class and on her color. Bambara presents Miss Moore as a very educated and intelligent woman, who has a college degree. With her knowledge Miss Moore sets out to educate the deprived and lower classed children and teach them of the world around them. She sets out to open their eyes, as well as their knowledge of the world around them. Miss Moore says, “Imagine 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. What do you think?,” (Bambara 452).
Sugar’s realization of the world outside of her own, opens her mind to many questions that she never imagined before. She realizes that there is a better standard of living in the world and that society is not equal, as it should be, “I think, . . . that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it?,” (Bambara 452). In this quotation Sugar realizes what Miss Moore set out to teach the lower classed and deprived children, her goal was to open their eyes and make them aware of how much more there is out there then making pocket change. “What kinda work they do and...
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