Summary Of Patricia Mccormick's Novel 'Sold'

Dhruv Hari

Mr. Keval

ENG2D1

25 May 2015

Fate at Birth

The customary beliefs, social forms and everyday practices of a particular group of individuals can be defined as culture. These practices become a way of life and as a whole, shape the personality of the individuals. If the individual remains isolated, the uniform values appear commonplace. If every member of the group engages in the same behaviour, why would the behaviour be scrutinized? There are cultures that practice bigamy, pagan worship, cannibalism, or human trafficking, and they continue to this day. While they might be frowned upon by Western culture, the practices appears perfectly normal to other cultures. In Patricia McCormick’s novel, Sold, it is acceptable for families

to sell young girls as sex slaves. Sexism often goes unnoticed. It happens frequently throughout many parts of the world and women are often the objects of this discrimination. A common excuse for sexist views is cultural beliefs and traditions. These are values that have been passed down for generations and continue to affect women today. Gender discrimination brings many negative effects, including the oppression of women.

The oppression of women commonly occurs in Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold. Lakshmi, the protagonist, and many other women are impacted by the cultural beliefs in India. Lakshmi is a thirteen-year- old girl from Nepal who loses everything she knows because of her stepfather’s greed. She lived in a small village with her mother who does housework and takes care of her little brother while her stepfather gambles at the tea shop. Desperate for money, Lakshmi is sold into prostitution by her stepfather with her believing she is going to work as a maid. Lakshmi moves to India and reaches the prostitution house, known as “Happiness House”. There are many women and young girls close to her age at the house who got trapped like Lakshmi. Mumtaz is the head of the Happiness House and the one who paid for the girls, so their debt to her is the price that they got bought for. They earn their money as sex slaves and some girls spend years trying to pay off the debt. Lakshmi does the same for months and realizes that it is a common practice in India and because it is a norm, many women and young girls are affected by this. In “Sold”, the Indian culture discriminates against women when looking at gender roles,

the values of the community and relationship expectations. Therefore, McCormick suggests that these inequitable views place women in a submissive and force them to endure severe physical and psychological suffering.

Firstly, gender roles restrict women from doing a lot of things and it depicts them as lower to men. Women suffer both physically and mentally from men being able to control their actions because of gender roles. As depicted in the book, women are expected to stay at home and care for the family, cook for them, and clean the house. They are limited to these choices as this was the belief that was passed on for generations. They might even stop school early as the parents would want an extra hand at home rather than their child going to school. Men don’t have these restrictions and can do whatever they wish as the women can’t. The culture makes it look like the women are only good at doing work in the house while men are superior and do more important jobs when that is not always the case. In the Indian culture, women are expected to be the first one up and the last one to go to bed to make sure the family gets the food on time and gets everything cleaned up. Because of that expectation, the caring and wellbeing of the family is always before the women’s health. Making the husband the first priority can be bad for the women’s physical and mental health. If they spend all their time caring for the family they would neglect their own wellbeing after some time. The men don’t help them because that is not the cultural norm in India. Likewise, Lakshmi and her mom have to put her stepfather before anything else. Before she goes to school "[Lakshmi's mother] bends down to stir the kitchen fire and plait [Lakshmi's] hair before [she] [goes] to school" (McCormick 7). This proves that Lakshmi’s mom only has one job which is to take care of everyone while her father is not doing any work and gambling the little money that they have. The cultural belief is that it is not his duty to help his wife and he can do as he wishes. Without any help she can be under a lot of stress which could lead to depression which is a common case in the book. In Indian culture, men are seen as the hardworking breadwinners who are always supporting the family while women are ignored for the work they do and are seen as of no use. The Government of India believes that "most men are considered economically productive, [whereas] women who are engaged in full-time household work are classified by the Government of India as economically unproductive" (Choudhary, Tripathy, George). The women do a lot of work at home like taking care of the family and cleaning the house yet the work they do is deemed invaluable. All around the world equality is promoted yet women are still not recognized for their efforts in helping the family. This does not just occur in rural areas where Lakshmi lives but it happens all over the world. Men like Lakshmi’s stepfather still believe this as he says “"A son will always be a son [...] But a girl is like a goat" (McCormick 8). He compares them to the goat as he believes they are useless just like women but goat provide milk which they can use to make food. They can be used for the long run by providing milk or they can be sacrificed to make food as well but he still considered the goat useless just like he considers women useless. He also believes that a son would do all the hard and important work which contradicts himself as he gambles all their money and doesn’t do any work. Comparing girls to animals is a common view as they are thought to be useless. Even though they are compared to animals, women are normally the ones making sacrifices as well. When they were low on money and didn’t have much to eat Lakshmi’s stepfather said that her mother, "will have to sell [her] earrings" (McCormick 23). Her mother does not say anything because she knows that there is no point in fighting with him. The earrings were supposed to be part of Lakshmi’s dowry but she gave up on fighting for herself as her opinion will be ignored by her husband. This proves that the Indian culture’s beliefs, views, and gender roles make women suffer.

Based on the gender roles the community values are similar as women are abused both physically and emotionally. McCormick shows that the community is corrupt as everyone puts money over their morals, ethics, and values. People would rather have money than their family members as they believe the women are not useful and can be sold off. Each year “millions of women and children are trafficked in India “(Peebles, Graham). When they are put into the sex trade they are abused a lot more and it hurts the slaves both physically and mentally. People in the community do not take note of this as they think it is the norm and there is nothing wrong with the sex trade. Because of these beliefs people do not help the slaves but instead they support the idea. They value women as an object that can used if a person pays. Men are able to do anything they want to the women if they pay for them and whatever they do is against the slaves consent. This links to how Lakshmi is sold into the sex trade without her knowledge. There are agents in the town which pick up girls and then pay a price so they can sell to another agent in the main city. The agent that wants Lakshmi asks "How much do you want for her?" (McCormick 53). Lakshmi was sold because her father had gambled the very little money that they had so he decides to sell her not thinking about what would happen to her and what kind of abuse she would get. Her dad is happy as he gets his money because he only thinks about himself and his family only comes after money. His greed causes her life to be ruined and she feels betrayed because she thought that he would value family over anything else. Finding out that he valued money over her life was scarring. Men are not only emotionally abusive to the women but physically as well. The emotional pain could be the result of physical abuse as well. Hurting the women in the family is a norm so parents sometimes tell the son that "all men beat their wives, one day you will do the same” (Nanda, Rema). Men control their wives or daughters by beating them and they think it is acceptable as well. It is seen as a way of disciplining the women. The women expect this as well and it has come to a point where getting beat is the norm and even women accept it. Just like the men, Mumtaz hurts the women if they do not listen to her instructions. She "[...] will smear chillies on a stick and put it inside the girl" (McCormick 257) if she tries to run away or does not listen to the customer. This is one type of her torture so the girls will be obedient and scared of her. The other girls watch and they too have the fear of Mumtaz which prevents them from doing anything against her will. It shows that the women are easily controlled by physical pain and fear. Lakshmi is left with no choice in her life as she has to accept her unlucky fate. She is also confused as how the women in Happiness House can live with the same fate and still carry on with their daily activities with a smile. Lakshmi realizes she has to do the same because she knows what Mumtaz will do to her. The mental and physical abuse becomes the norm in their life which is unfair to women and proves that it can change and scar women forever.

Women are treated poorly yet they have a lot of expectations in the relationship. They don’t have a lot of freedom and not much control over their life as well. In the book it is shown that women are not valued and that men are valued more than women. They are mainly valued more because they think that men will get the family more money and that they can protect the women. Women are seen as the burden that spends all the money and does not do work at home. The main reason is about wealth again as it valued so much in the culture. It is unfair to women that they are thought of as a burden because they do a lot of work at home as well and many women have jobs outside of the house as well. Lakshmi is told that it is better to have a son and that the daughter will be looked down upon. Her mother even tells her that she can leave the daughter because the will for a son is so much stronger which is based on the beliefs. This shows that women are put second again in the Indian culture. This also puts pressure on women because they often have an emotional connection with the baby so they do not feel like leaving it. At times they are forced to do it if they do not give birth to a son. Finally, the men are the head of the house and own everything that the women own. Because women are looked upon as objects they belong to the husband. Another custom in the Indian culture is dowry when getting married. The dowry system was very common in India and it is when the girl’s family has to give the boy’s family money, gold, property, or an item of their wish. It is given as a token of appreciation for accepting the girl. Another reason a son is preferred over a daughter is because of dowry. The groom’s family does not have to give the bride anything which can also suggest that men are superior to women. It is unfair to women especially if they do not come from a rich family and often times it is a struggle for the family to give the money. Lakshmi learns from a young age that she has to respect and look up to men. Mumtaz also tells her to respect men by taking "men to [her] room [...] and do whatever they ask of [her]" (McCormick 106). Telling women they have to be obedient to whatever men say is unfair to women because the men will get whatever they want even if there is a negative impact on the woman. McCormick shows that equality is not where it should be and there is a lot to change in the beliefs in the culture.
With the technological advances in society today, it is astonishing to believe that women are still being mistreated and abused. A world where one carries a personal computer in their pocket and is able to find the answer to any question they ask, women continue to be oppressed. As depicted in the novel Sold, the protagonist Lakshmi discovers the cruelty and horrors men seek to place upon her. The culture begins to affect the characters in countless ways, influencing gender roles, the values of the community and relationship expectations. Despite this humanity must change the errors of their ways; creating an environment where not only women are treated equally, but provided with the opportunity to become successful. As the american journalist and three time Academy Award Nominee Nora Ephron once said about the issue of women empowerment, "Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim".

Works Cited

Peebles, Graham. "Trafficking of Children and Women in India." Redress Information Analysis Trafficking of Children and Women in India Comments. 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 25 May 2015.
Nanda, Rema. "'All Men Beat Their Wives, One Day You Will Do the Same'" Web. 25 May 2015.