Patricia Mccormick's Sold Analysis

Sold, by Patricia McCormick, is a book about a young girl, Lakshmi. Lakshmi has little to hold onto while being forced to work after she is sold into slavery. She is held against her will in a place called the ‘Happiness House’, a house with very tiring living conditions. She comes in contact with many people, or customers, who dehumanize and demand things from her so frequently that she wants to give up completely. However, Lakshmi meets a few people who help and encourage her throughout her many months at the house. Despite the fact that he was a minor character and did not physically rescue her out of the house, the street boy is essential to Lakshmi’s will to survive and release because he inspires her to hold onto hope and get out of the

However, before the solution, another problem forms of its own. Lakshmi is thankful for the street boy’s companionship towards her, but she feels like it is not right. She understands that he is helping her see that they are both alone in their situations, but she wishes to have “Enough to pay the street boy what I owe” (267). Lakshmi realizes that her bond with the tea boy was a daring action which she summed up the courage to take. She regrets ever accepting the tea he offers her when she sees his cut brow and bruised face. The street boy tells her, “‘If I don’t collect for all the drinks’, he says, ‘Sometimes he takes it out on me’” (266). This risk at first destroys her. She is beyond belief that she let him get in trouble because it’s not what she intended. The street boy reveals that he is being switched to another position and will no longer be able to visit Lakshmi anymore. While he is saying goodbye, Lakshmi does something that she must do to survive. “I do not think. I run to him and throw my arms around him. I do not care if she thinks I’m in love with him. I don’t care if she thinks I’m a fool. Because I didn’t just hug him. I whispered in his ear and slipped him the flying-bird card” (270). The card she slips the street boy is a business card of an American looking to help her. As a result of this, Lakshmi realizes their friendship was ultimately the solution she needed to be