Reading Response # 4
Question # 2
           In the short story “The Lesson” Miss Moore takes the group of children to a FAO Schwartz toy store in Manhattan . One can be lead to believe that by taking them to a store where they can’t afford anything, she wants them to see that there is more to life beyond what they are accustomed to and that education is very essential to achieving a better life. She wants them to realize what they may consider excessive spending is very trivial to the people that shop at that store, and that not everyone has the same social standing.  She is hoping that by introducing them to this side of life they will somehow be motivated to strive for better and rise above their current situation. The children needed to learn this lesson since it is quite clear they weren’t even aware that a toy could cost that much or that someone would even spend that much on a toy. They couldn’t fathom the idea of anyone spending so much on a toy when that money could feed an entire family for quite some time. From the story it seems like these children have spent their entire lives in a bubble surrounded by people in the same socioeconomic situation as them. They weren’t aware that there was more to life than what they knew and Miss Moore simply opened up their eyes to the other side of life. Her little experiment got a few members of the group thinking and comparing their socioeconomic situation with the people that are in a higher social position. It gave them reason to pause and wonder how they can achieve such success or in Sylvia’s case how she can beat them at their game.