The Lesson Characters Analysis

Sylvia - The protagonist of the novel is a young black girl whose family has recently migrated from the south to a neighborhood in Harlem, New York. She severely dislikes the educational trips that Miss Moore periodically organizes for the neighborhood children. The short story covers one such particular trip that Miss Moore organizes to the upscale toy store, FAO Schwarz. Sylvia is forced to confront the inequality prevalent in the world as she learns about the exorbitant prices of impractical toys that wealthy people can afford for their children. 

Miss Moore - Sylvia describes Miss Moore as an extremely black woman, who wears no makeup, wears her natural hair, and always dresses smartly. Sylvia’s parents criticize Miss Moore for never going to church, but they always send their children to her when she organizes educational trips because of the authority she bears with her college degree. Miss Moore encourages her students to think for themselves and tries to make education a journey of exploration. She frustrates Sylvia by asking Sylvia to research the answer to her question instead of simply handing her the answer. Miss Moore serves as the antagonist of the short story for the initial section, but this role is then adopted by the inequality in society as Sylvia begins to focus her anger there instead of Miss Moore.