Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” is an example of many social and financial situations in existence still today, and how they vary from different areas. The story’s main character, Sylvia, is a rebellious, incredibly opinionated and strong young child. But when one of the neighbor’s, Miss Moore, takes Sylvia and the other kids on the block for a trip to Fifth Avenue to visit the extremely pricey F.A.O. Shwarz, Miss Moore shows them the true value of a dollar and much of the inequality in society. By taking the kids completely out of their comfort zone, it not only opened the children’s eyes to what true happiness means for them, but built a fire inside of them that leads to Sylvia’s very game changing comment at the end of the story; “ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin’”. (96) Throughout this story, there’s only one main social conflict that is explored and that is the social and financial inequality and lack of opportunity throughout many different parts of the country, but more so in the city of New York where financial status differs dramatically from one section of the city to another and is where the story takes place. So when Miss Moore, the “black as hell” lady that “always dresses formally” (87) who went to college and is educated, volunteers to take them on a trip to Fifth Avenue, they are more so interested in what they can get out of it and not because they like her. Miss Moore is new to the neighborhood and is called “eccentric” in the book, which leads me to believe the only reason she is made out to be an outcast or eccentric is because compared to many other people on the block, she speaks more proper, dresses nicer, is educated, and has a willingness to want to learn from different things and teach the kids of her new area that you aren’t subject to the area in which you are from and basically a “way out”. She takes it upon herself to educate the children, sayin