The theme of the short story “The Lesson” is the vast differences in life between the poor and the rich. This story highlights the vast differences of quality of life from the perspective of a child, which serves the purpose of keeping the commentary pretty black and white. This simplistic view from which the story is told causes us as an audience to think. One scene from the story that stands out in my mind is the reaction of Rosie to F.A.O. Schwartz. She says “White people crazy”. This statement reveals how narrow but mature her and her peers’ outlook on life is. They relate spending money on a toy to how much it costs to feed their families. These points to reflect on make this story a powerful one.