Sold
“I pound on the door. I howl like an animal. I pray. I pace the room. I kick the door. But I do not cry” (McCormick 108). Lakshmi is a young girl from Nepal that gets sent away to work for her family as a maid, she thinks. She actually is getting sent to the Happiness House, which is a prostitution house where young girls are forced to give themselves to men. Lakshmi is a very strong young girl who goes through a lot in the course of this novel. No matter what, she perseveres through it all. In the novel Sold by Patricia McCormick, the main character Lakshmi perseveres through the time when she is in her village, to when she arrives at the Happiness House, and even when she finally escapes it.
Lakshmi lives in a village in
…show more content…
She thinks she is going to be a maid for a rich family, but it is much worse than that. Lakshmi gets sold again to a prostitution house and endures a lot when she first gets there. “‘You will take men into your room,’ she says. ‘And do whatever they ask of you. You will work here, like the other girls, until your debt is payed off’” (McCormick 106). She learns where she has been sold to and what for. She has a debt of $20,000 that must be payed off by selling herself for money before she can leave. “I decide to think that it is all a nightmare. Because if what is happening is real, it is unbearable” (McCormick 124). She gets through the transition of being in this horrid environment by convincing herself that it’s all a bad dream. This shows perseverance because she finds a way to cope with the traumatic events she is going through to stay alive and get herself out of this terrible ordeal. But what she does not know yet is how much strength it’s going to take to make it through these events until she finally is …show more content…
Lakshmi deals with what is happening to her by getting lessons every day on how to communicate in English by a little boy whose mother works in the Happiness House. “And then he is gone. Leaving me to consider how long it has been since tomorrow meant anything to me” (McCormick 163). When he first offers to give Lakshmi these lessons, she regains hope because of her love of learning. She loved going to school when she was back in her village, and she is excited to get lessons now from a boy who is able to still attend school. A little while later an American man comes and asks Lakshmi if she wants to go to “a clean place.” She does not answer because she doesn’t believe that she can trust this man, but she does take his card. Then, a raid happens, and they take Shahanna, the girl who’s been taking care of Lakshmi sense she arrived at the Happiness House. Now, she has almost nothing left to keep her going, but she still does. Lakshmi has been doing the math on how much of her debt she has so far paid off, and takes it to Mumtaz, her master of sort, who says she is wrong. This completely crushes her spirit. Not too long after this another American comes asking if she wants to go to “a clean place”, and he also has a camera with pictures on it, showing happy and healthy girls in this “clean place.” She says yes this time and, now she waits for him to come
In “Sold,” internal and external expectations shaped Lakshmi’s life by helping her realize that many situations aren’t as they seem and helping her learn how to react to those situations.
A day in the life of a sex slave is interesting, and when you have children living with you it becomes a worry, in Born into Brothels the children that have been raised in the Red Light District have fear in their lives. Everyday the young children watch their mothers give sex for pay and they see their fathers beating their wives and drinking and doing drugs. These children have fear in their lives because they know they do not want to be like their parents but they have no option because there is no way to escape. Sex slavery is a way to earn quick cash and families in the Red Light District are poor and they usually force their daughters into sex slavery. In Sold by Patricia McCormick, Lakshmi’s family is poor and they need money, so Lakshmi
Further on, when Lakshmi reaches the train station there is an occurrence of public shaming in which a woman tries to run away from her home and the pimp explains to Lakshmi what happens, “‘One look at that head of hers and anyone can tell she’s a disgraced woman.’ He says. ‘Even if she does run off again, no one will help her’” (McCormick 86). This shows how the pimp is again instilling fear into Lakshmi, making sure she does not try to leave his side if she becomes suspicious as she would be shamed and thought of as a disgrace by society if she disobeys her ‘husband’.
In the book Sold by Patricia McCormick, Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who is sold into slavery by the people she trusts. While slavery has been around for thousands of years, the slavery in this book is human trafficking. McCormick illustrates the contrast between living and pretending in Lakshmi's hometown wth her childhood love, her educational status, and the meaning of the tv. Lakshmi's childhood love presents the life that she imagines she would have in the future in her home village in the Himalayas. Lakshmi believes that her childhood love, Krishna, will wait for her to come back so that they can be happy: "I want to tell him where I'm going, to tell him that I will return as soon as I am able to with a cash dowry for our wedding.
She made friends with one of the other girls at the house and trusted her and told her everything she was thinking. One night an American came into Lakshmi’s room and gave her a card with words that she couldn’t understand. He asked her if she wanted to go with him but she was to scared to say anything. Eventually another American
She worked hard to make sure she would not be the victim of life and being able to not be destroyed by life portrays the strength
Perseverance is “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success” (https://languages.oup.com). In the book, Chines Cinderella by Adiline Yen Mah perseverance is a key theme. Chines Cinderella is a memoir that follows Adeline's rough childhood, throughout the book, Adeline faces numerous challenges and obstacles, but she never gives up. Instead, she perseveres, using her determination and resilience to overcome the difficulties she faces.
. . My stepfather scowls, but he does not say anything. On any other day, he would not tolerate such defiance, especially from a mere girl” (McCormick 54-55). After he sold Lakshmi, he is tolerates her defiance and accepts it. He’s not the only other one in the novel that people can feel compassionate towards.
She knew her family was waiting patiently for her to finish her work in the city and come back home. Lakshmi thought she was doing the right thing by going to the city to help her family’s financial situation, but she did not know that she was going to have to “give herself up” in the way she was forced to. It was Lakshmi’s idea to go work in the city to help her family, so it was a big surprise to her when she found out she wasn’t actually going there to be a maid. The thought of her family at home was the one thing that motivated her to get her work over with so she could come back home: “Each night, I dream that Ama and I are sitting outside our hut...and she is twining my hair into long dark braids” (109). Lakshmi was describing how she dreams about her and her mother sitting back at home together.
In order to just be able to live she turns to jobs that endanger her as she is ‘desperately hard up,’ presenting the great extent to which she would go as without
She persevered, helping her survive and make a full recovery with no long term damage. In other words, if you don’t give up, it’ll help you in the long
When she opens the door for the room full of money, she must also close the door to her hut, and her honest teaching career. The door to which her students used to enter. In Mumbai and across the world, money is the kryptonite for the
In order to enjoy the life that every person deserves, Lakshmi has the right to receive more attention from her husband as a human being. It's interesting to see that Lakshmi works for an organization that assists those in need because they frequently experience difficulties in their daily lives. People are led and heard by Lakshmi. Despite being unable to meet her own needs, she meets those of others and solves them. As a result of experiencing isolation in her own life, she deals with similar people in order to free herself from the cage of unfavorable emotions that Hariharan had kept her in for 12
Lakshmi reveals that she is unhappy with this Behavior as it shows a lack of trust and faith in her competence and her intelligence despite the fact that she has never made a mistake. Hariharan however dismisses her and does not believe that his reminders are unnecessary or show a lack of trust. He doesn't show any sympathy for her feelings thus making Lakshmi feel self conscious. Trust is an essential part of a healthy relationship as it builds a sense of security, mutual respect and also strengthens the bond between the couple. One partner repeatedly questioning the other's capabilities can lead them to feel self-conscious and not respected.
Human trafficking was a major problem in this book. Researching human trafficking can further all evidence and information on the topic which the books had multiple points to emphasize on . Patricia Mccormick writes sold to inform people about the experiences of others lives and the way they are living with this happening to them or have happened . Her personal trials have taken an emotional route to connect with Lakshmi or some of the young girls she has visited previously. This essay is important because it talks and highlights very key points on Human trafficking and how it affects women and the society as a