Brief Summary And Symbolism In Lakshmi's Life

Over 2 million children are sold into sex trafficking each year (Global). Sold gives the eye-opening narrative of just one of them. I followed Lakshmi through her journey as she learned about life outside her small hometown in Nepal. She loved her mother and baby brother and worked hard to keep up with her repulsive step-father’s gambling habit. When given the opportunity to take a job that could provide for her family, Lakshmi accepted the offer. Unknowingly, she walked into the hands of horrible people who led her blindly on the path of prostitution. Discovering her fate, Lakshmi latched onto hope when all seemed bleak. After months of endless abuse, some Americans gave her the opportunity to escape her situation, and, thankfully, she took

it. In Sold by Patricia McCormick, I experienced the culture of Nepal and India, as well as indelible story elements and beautifully crafted characters.
While reading this story, I learned a great deal about the cultures of modern-day Nepal, Lakshmi’s hometown, and India, her place of enslavement. These impoverished countries contrasted to American society in their lower standards of life, as seen when Lakshmi envied her friend for her ability to afford a tin roof (McCormick 1). In America, we take necessities like these for granted without realizing it. Sold also painted the picture of oppression that Nepali and Indian women faced. Women were especially low in society and seen as servants and baby-makers more than spouses. An example is when “Ama served [Lakshmi’s] stepfather his dinner, and she kneeled at his feet” (McCormick 7). In Nepal, women have absolutely no power over the male of the family, and are expected to submit to any of his desires. Women who were sexually abused or associated with brothels were shunned by the majority of the public and left for dead on the streets if removed from the brothel. Regrettably, while there were about 35,000 children trafficked in India annually (Peebles), there were roughly 30,000 trafficked in America (Hart 1154). While all of these countries had their differences, we were united on the pressing issue of child trafficking addressed in Sold.
Intense themes and symbols were threaded throughout Lakshmi’s many letters.

A theme that I quickly noticed was innocence. Lakshmi was told that she was going to the city to work as a maid, but while her step-father sold her, she thought, “I don’t understand at all. A great deal of money has just been paid for work I have not done yet” (McCormick 55). Even while Uncle Husband told her to lie and while she watched a girl get humiliated for disobeying, Lakshmi did not know the amount of danger she was in until she stood at Happiness House in her uncomfortable, new dress and was adulterated by a stranger (McCormick 102). McCormick strengthened the novel with symbols, and a recurring one was books. Dispersed in the pages were different books that came to represent different things to Lakshmi as she grew and developed. Initially, Lakshmi hated Harish, the son of a Happiness House worker, because he had his own storybook (McCormick 151). Every day, Lakshmi would steal the book and “pretend she was in school again with Gita and her soft, moonfaced teacher” (McCormick 155). The storybook went from a source of jealousy, to a loved memory, to the bond between the beautiful friendship of Harish and Lakshmi as he taught her to read the American stories inside. Another book was Lakshmi’s notebook that recorded her debt and earnings. She was convinced that her calculations would be enough to prove she had earned her way home. In this way, the forbidden notebook came to symbolize her

loyalty to family and the determination she had to get back to it. For me, McCormick’s exceptional use of story structure made Sold even more engaging as I read.
Along with being culture-rich and well-structured, Sold contained intricate characters that were easy for me to fall in love with.

At home in Nepal, Ama was Lakshmi’s role model, and even though she wasn’t able to provide Lakshmi with the luxuries that their neighbors had, “her slender back, which bears all troubles- and all hope- was still the most beautiful” to Lakshmi (McCormick 7). Even though she was not dynamic, I fell in love with how she inspired Lakshmi through her trials and her representation of the strong, hard-working women in Nepali culture. There were also a few other static characters, most of which I did not like at all. Her stepfather, Auntie Bimla, Uncle Husband and Auntie Mumtaz were the figures of authority that Lakshmi associated with her tortured existence in India, but in the midst of the hardship, there were characters that provided just as much light to Lakshmi’s life as there was darkness. For example, the young tea vendor lifted Lakshmi’s spirits with his polite gestures of free tea when she couldn’t afford it, as well as keeping her on the right path when Lakshmi was tempted to buy alcohol to soothe her misery (McCormick 224). Along with Lakshmi’s friend Shahanna, he too was taken away and I was convinced of Lakshmi’s impending doom even more than she herself probably was. All seemed dark until the second American came with his “digital magic”. By using his camera to show her pictures of rescued girls, this brave man was able to convince Lakshmi

to trust him to rescue her. Moreover, it was a heartwarming scene as the book ended with Lakshmi running towards this man to be taken from her filthy prison.
After reading Sold, my eyes were opened to an entire world of danger that girls just like me were facing across the globe. Lakshmi embodied the cry for help of so many children that were sold into sex trafficking. Patricia McCormick deserved her award for this book, because I’ve never before been rendered angry, sad, worried, and relieved simultaneously, like I did while reading this novel. Lakshmi’s journey from a loving family, to the big city of horrible slavery, to rescue and hope for a future was an engrossing novel with an even more captivating message.