Foremost, to understand the relevance of the identified themes of politics and economics, there is a need to consider the traditions that the authors represent in their works and the how their characters realize the problem with assuming the norms are acceptable. In other words, the following segments of this paper present the turning points of the identified narratives as they highlight the socio-economic divisions through the experiences of the characters. In “The Lesson” racial groups play a significant role in determining the opportunities that the people access. While in “The Necklace,” the social class to which one is born or marries into defines his or her person and whether or not he or she is eligible for the high-class societies.
First, Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” represents more than just a story about an impoverished girl with too much spirit; on the contrary, the entire work is a social commentary. Based on the life of an African American girl, “The Lesson” portrays the struggles of the protagonist as she becomes aware of the class inequalities that confine her person within the rigid boundaries society. Miss Moore, also an African Americans, enlightens her students to the realities of social inequality and among those in her class is Sylvia, the story’s narrator whose traits appear above. The students consider Miss Moore as an unwanted educator and for that reason, would rather not listen to her teach. A perfect illustration is evident where Sylvia states that she hates the “nappy head bitch and her goddamn college degree” [to mean Miss Moore] and in the course of the tale, the tension between the two does not ease up (Bambara 378). Subsequently, although the noted tension between the teacher and student represents a typical relationship between an adolescent and an authoritative figure, there is more. Sylvia already has an idea of how the world ought to work and anything outside the sphere she has created in her head was unacceptable. On a similar note, while Sylvia is aware of her impoverished state, she does not show any inclination to it being a bother until she witnesses the luxuries that only the rich enjoy, in a toy store. As Sylvia finally realizes the amount of wealth available to others, her character affirms her jealousy with the words; “I sure want to punch somebody in the mouth” (Bambara 380). Thus, when Sylvia leaves the store, her reaction to the idea of people owning the expensive toys, she starts to understand the palpable social inequalities and that alone makes her angry. When she passionately declares “ain't nobody gonna beat [her] at nuthin,” readers realize that it has always been a matter of pride; Sylvia would rather deny her underprivileged status than admit it to be true because it is shameful.
In Toni Cade Bambara's Use of African American Vernacular English in “The Lesson,” Janet Heller focuses on the Bambara’s usage of African American Vernacular English to portray Sylvia’s character and at the same time highlight the deplorable conditions in which the people lived. According to Heller, the use of such dialect “emphasizes the children’s distance from mainstream white bourgeois, culture, and economic power”; as a result, the story is a direct depiction of racial prejudices in the streets of the United States (279). On one hand, there is the ghetto, where the colored folk live and on the other, there are the high-end streets of society that remain secluded and detached from the African Americans. Accordingly, through Sylvia’s apparent disregard for decorum, Bambara’s writing “adds realism” to the narration and manages to show the clear differences that money can make in a community (Heller 279). Miss Moore is soft-spoken and has remarkable control on her temper; especially when one considers the name calling and taunts the children make. The noticeable difference stems from her education: a privilege that the ghetto children lacked. Hence, when Miss Moore takes the kids on a “boring ass” lesson outside, she unravels a fresh world for the children whose languages show that they have never left their comfort zones in the ghetto (Heller 280). Miss Moore, the woman who has gained a formal education, becomes the eye-opening entity in the novel and to an extent, the readers as her lessons show just how many opportunities the children are missing.
So far, the social and economic classes of the “The Lesson” stem from ethnic groups and the influence one gains from age. In “The Lesson” Miss Moore is colored but had access to approved education; for that reason, she is aware of the situation in which African Americans are living and to the chagrin of the rest of her community, she distorts the constructive norms that are simply the comfort of ignorance. The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is different as it concentrates on poverty among a Caucasian couple.
Similarly, in what appears to be an echo of “The Lesson,” Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” focuses on the heroine Mathilde whose character resembles that of Sylvia as she refuses to accept her position of a humble background. Apparently, the woman has “no dowry, no prospects, no way of getting known, courted, loved, married by a rich and distinguished man” (de Maupassant 187). Hence, is no wonder she gets married to a common man with no riches to boast; however, it is worth noting that the decision to marry a man of her class was a conscious one. In the author’s words, “[Mathilde] let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education” and throughout, she remained unhappy “as though she had married beneath her” (de Maupassant 187). Now, as Madame Loisel, Mathilde refuses to acknowledge her husband’s love and loyalty and only shows affection when he buys her a high-priced dress for a party because no matter what he does, he will always be a humble clerk. Now, for the story’s female protagonist social class is everything. Mathilde remains envious of the upper class to such an extent that she refuses to visit her convent friend because she is wealthier and possesses what she does not have (de Maupassant 189). Central to the tale is a necklace believed to cost thirty-six thousand francs, and when Mathilde loses it, she and her husband become “sick with worry and anguish” as they “[rack] their memories” trying to find it (de Maupassant 190). However, as the story concludes, readers realize that the necklace was only worth five hundred francs and had from the beginning been a weak illusion of wealth where there is none. Just like the false jewelry, the high life that the aristocrats portray is unreal and Mathilde becomes a victim of the same.
In Perceiving Reality in Calderón, Maupassant, and James, Gibby Kristina’s focus on “The Necklace” concurs with the analysis given above. According to the author, Mausappant’s aim in writing the story was to address the tension between “illusion and reality” so as to comment on the “seeming absurdity of the human condition” (Gibby 18). In other words, it is apparently hard to discern what is original from what is a mere copy and for that reason, the entire essence of social divisions in “The Necklace” becomes a dream or fake. In the narration, Maupassant makes the reader aware of the injustice that defines the life of Mathilde by stating that her birth into a “family of clerks and copyists” was “an error of destiny” for her ambitions surpassed those allowed within the confines of poverty (187). On that note, as Gibby affirms, had Mathilde been born ugly or poor, her fate “would not seem so cruel” because the societies cared more about one’s background that they did their skin color and the official cause of social differences (21). That is why the necklace, although fake, transforms Mathilde into a member of the social elites. The worthless piece of jewelry has the right reputation (property of a wealthy woman) and even has the correct presentation (the expensive box); consequently, it becomes necessary by association. Likewise, daughters could demand respect on the grounds of having a wealthy father while wives would do the same if their husbands made the cut; however, that does not mean they possess the riches rather, they are similar to the necklace as they siphon power from their associates.
Back to the story of “The Necklace,” everything Mathilde experiences while wearing the ornament was an illusion that quickly fades to pave the way for reality. After a successful night of pretenses, the Loisels immediately descend poverty. Just as in “The Lesson,” where Sylvia gains insight into the true nature of her deplorable condition, Mathilde is “harshly awakened from a euphoric dream” (Gibby 21). The problem is, fate was not as kind to Mathilde as it was to the young African American girl because unlike the latter, the former faced harsher realities in life. The necklace was indeed gone but with that, the young couple began to settle a debt that was as faked as the necklace. At this point, Gibby voices her views on the possibility of the whole ordeal being Maupassant’s way of “assigning some moral weight to poverty”: when a person fails to appreciate what he or she possesses, the desire for more would eventually destroy him or her (21). The destruction of Mathilde was more than the loss of money because with the poverty that ensued, her “vain fantasies” only increased in momentum as the position only gave her more cause to seek an escape.
In summation, the depiction of economic and social divisions in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson,” takes different forms but convey the same message. For the given reason, a reading of the two works allows one to decipher the possible causes and effects of the mentioned disparities. In “The Lesson” racial prejudice and the inferiority of African Americans plays a key role as the storyteller becomes aware of the fact that she belongs to a small class because of her skin color. Subsequently, “The Necklace” has its principal character admiring people who belong to the high class so much that she starts to degrade herself as worthless. Mathilde desires the supposedly expensive necklace and fails to realize it is a fake. Nonetheless, and in conclusion, the effects are the same. The social and economic discrepancies lead to more harm than good. Sylvia enters a state of denial that would most likely end up with severe depression while Mathilde struggles to replace a worthless necklace with everything she owns.
Works Cited
Gibby, Kristina. "Perceiving Reality in Calderón, Maupassant, and James." Literary Matters: The Newsletter of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers 7.1 (2014): 18-23. Web. <http://alscw.org/PDFs/Literary%20Matters_7.1.pdf>.
Heller, Janet Ruth. "Toni Cade Bambara's Use of African American Vernacular English in “The Lesson”." Style 37.3 (Fall 2003.): 279-293. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org>.
