The Power of Personality in Toni Cade Bambaras The...

The Power of Personality in Toni Cade Bambara’s The Lesson Developing character is something that comes with time. I believe that there are three major things that effect how people develop their character—where they are from, which includes their financial status; how they are raised; and the character of the people that have had the most influence on their lives. Sylvia, in Toni Cade Bambara’s The Lesson, is very much influenced by all of these factors. Sylvia’s living in the slums and being poor makes her defensive and judgmental. Her parents not being around much leaves her without the attention and discipline that children need to develop to their fullest. Lastly, her friends and Miss Moore also have a great influence on how†¦show more content†¦Because Sylvia does not recognize her own faults, it would be expected that someone else might see them and correct her appropriately. The problem though, is that Sylvia’s parents are always in a la-de-da apartment up the block having a good ole time, probab ly partying. Sylvia’s parents, mentioned infrequently throughout the story, do not seem to have too much involvement with their daughter. This is represented in Sylvia’s behavior, for example, when she wants to steal Ms. Moore’s cab money and run to the bar-b-que. Although most of Sylvia’s actions are conceivably wrong, it would be inappropriate to blame her solely for her mistakes. It is impossible for any child to understand what is right or wrong if it was never defined for him/her. Sylvia was probably not disciplines growing up and so her judgment of what is right or wrong is based on her own opinions and her observations of what the other children in her neighborhood are doing. The children in the neighborhood are probably the most influential people in Sylvia’s life, since she is around them most frequently, and they are her peers. They too seem to come from the same kind of background as Sylvia—poor, defensive,Show MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Lesson962 Words   |  4 Pagespeople entertained, but have also taught us many things with information, lessons, and morals from both nonfictional and fictional characters. With what must be a million stories that have been told, many stories would most likely share have their similarities, maybe even be the same story, unintentionally, of course. Stories like The Epic of Gilgamesh and Toni Cade Bambara’s â€Å"The Lesson†. The Epic of Gilgamesh and â€Å"The Lesson† are mainly about the main character having to deal with a higher authority