Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Importance of Fitting In

Throughout the story, characters mock and put down others as a constant reminder of the importance of fitting in, and the value of belonging to an in-group. The children are quick to mock anything another character says or does, especially if it differs from something a bigger, stronger kid believes. The kids' constant jabs at each other are an example of "crab mentality," a term based on the way crabs act when a group of them are stuck in a bucket. One crab could climb on top of the others and escape, but the other crabs won't allow it. They pull every crab back down. Crab mentality plays out the same way in humans who likewise feel stuck. In “The Lesson,” any time one kid tries to lift themselves up by imagining something different, the others mock and threaten them back into the group think, a motif that plays out again and again.
 
When Ronald expresses interest in a microscope, he's called a fool. When Rosie asks a question, Flyboy calls her a dumbbell. When Mercedes says she does in fact have a desk at home and her own scented stationery, the kids race to make fun of her "smelly" paper. Perhaps the best example is Miss Moore, whose differences mark her as an outsider and thus a subject of gossip and scorn. Miss Moore’s tone, manner of dress, and education alienate her from the children, who largely find her arrogant and condescending. The fact that Sugar appears swayed by Miss Moore in the end prompts an angry reaction from Sylvia, highlighting the importance of remaining united in ostracizing any member of an out-group. The children’s shyness, shame, and unexplainable inability to initially enter the toy store further illustrate this point; taken from the neighborhood they call home, they suddenly find themselves in a location where they are made to feel they don’t belong, and are hesitant to enter. The toy store, symbolic of wealth the likes of which the children can scarcely believe, forces them to feel jarringly out of place, which posits notions about the immorality of wealth disparity that the children are only just beginning to grapple with.

Economic Inequality

Bambara paints a stark picture of the inequality between American communities by contrasting the community where the kids live and the location they visit. The narrator Sylvia does not paint her neighborhood in a particularly positive light; she describes it as being made up of stench-ridden apartment houses and playgrounds cluttered with "winos." On Miss Moore’s trip, the children are taken to FAO Schwarz, the glittery and expensive toy store on Fifth Avenue that seems like a completely different world but is in reality only a short taxi ride away.
 
The stark difference between these two worlds is exemplified in the kids' discussion about the toy boat. Over the course of their conversation, Miss Moore leads the kids to juxtapose the expensive boat with the kinds of toy boats they are able to afford. The kids surmise that the expensive boat probably sails and lasts a long time, while their boats aren’t supposed to sail. Constructed with inexpensive materials not made to last, these boats are meant to sink. As this lesson on inequality begins to take root, the kids can't fathom that some people can spend the amount of money their parents spend on food for a year on such a frivolous toy, its quality notwithstanding. Sylvia grows angry as she realizes that the extreme disparity between the boats echoes the extreme wealth gap between her community and others.

Powerlessness

Sylvia sees the world as dog-eat-dog; confident and assertive, she strives to intimidate people so no one will attempt to intimidate her. Her confidence has won her the role of leader in her neighborhood group of friends, as evidenced by the way many of the children defer to her. Even Miss Moore recognizes Sylvia’s role in the group, placing Sylvia in charge of one of the taxis. Sylvia showcases how she uses her power when she decides to keep the money for the driver’s tip for herself. This suggests that in Sylvia’s world, the natural order is that the strongest take from the weakest. Sylvia also displays this way of thinking when she observes that Little Q.T. could never have the toy sailboat because it would just get taken from him as a result of his smallness. She has no interest in being the kind of person another might take a sailboat from.

However, her confidence is shaken when she is brought to the toy store. The normally self-assured Sylvia appears timid in the presence of such extravagance and is unable to bring herself to enter. Once she and the other children crowd in, they continue to feel a curious sense of shame and unease. This signifies a dawning recognition that wealthy people possess more money than they, the children, could ever dream of—money that could change their lives—yet the wealthy choose to spend it frivolously. Sylvia becomes consumed with an anger she can’t or won’t identify, and, unable to pinpoint what’s upsetting her, she channels this anger toward Miss Moore and Sugar. Her surface-level anger suggests a deeper, more profound indignation with an unjust system, and the fact that she’s being forced to confront realities that make her feel powerless. Ultimately, her assertion in the final line—“But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin”—is an attempt to reclaim that power.