Self-discovery in Toni Bambora´s The Lesson and Liliana...

The diverse and powerful topic of socioeconomic can be explored to develop characters and the overall theme of a story. Two literary stories in particular, â€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Bambara and â€Å"The Stolen Party† by Liliana Heker, have used socioeconomic status to create a second theme of self-discovery. The main characters in each of these two stories are young girls who discover their adult selves by the end. A low socioeconomic status was a part of each character’s character development in â€Å"The Lesson† and â€Å"The Stolen Party†, which ultimately forced them down a path of self-discovery. Good Start In both of these literary works, the low socioeconomic status of the main characters is made well known to the reader early on. This status is†¦show more content†¦She brings the children into a nice toy store and they are shocked by what they see. Soon, Sylvia and the others begin to realize the prices of some of these toys, and h ow they could never afford any of them. She says, â€Å"Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we aint in on it?† This quote indicates Sylvia’s realization that while she is struggling to afford necessary basics to survive, some people in the city are so rich that they can spend excessive amounts of money on just toys. Going into the toy store was Sylvia’s moment of self-discovery in the story, and more specifically, her moment of discovering an adult self. She grew up a little that day as Miss Moore’s lesson finally got through to her. As a naà ¯ve child, she did not find it important to listen to what the lesson was. But, once she saw a real example, she became upset and overwhelmed with confusion. The lesson finally made sense to her and applied to her life. Sylvia’s economic status allowed her to make this difficult self-discovery. In à ¢â‚¬Å"The Stolen Party†, Rosaura is the main character, also a young girl who is financially disadvantaged. Her mother is a maid for a rich family. Rosaura is very excited to be invited to the rich family’s party for their daughter, but her mother does not share her excitement. Her mother tries to explain