Sold is a heartbreaking novel filled with tears, desperation, and even little traces of hope that keep the readers on the edges of their seats no matter the situation. Through out the entire novel, Lakshmi struggles with the constant sensation that arises within her soul called hope which is also one of the main rising points as to how Lakshmi is saved at the end of the book. In the third part of the novel, I can't help but feel that the tones are hope and realism. Through out her time in the brothel, Lakshmi never loses hope for her own future as well as who she is. One of the only reasons that Lakshmi continued to pleasure men was to earn enough money to send back to her family which would then help them obtain a new roof and maybe some other luxuries. Lakshmi knew that even though she was in pain and that her heart was dead inside, her contribution to her family's income was enough to keep her going for the majority of the novel. Lakshmi witnessed and endured so many horrible things such as beatings, tortures, and the relentless reminders that anyone she loved could be ripped away from her at any moment but she never gave into the temptation of death because some part of her knew that she was stronger than the pain itself. Lakshmi often thought about death in the last couple of pages in the novel but she never gave herself away to death and found ways to keep herself going by envisioning how happy she could make her family and how they would honor her when she would return. However, I didn't think this was the only tone used through out the third part of the novel because that would be too simple for the reader. I also think that there was a massive influence of realism used to make us as the readers completely aware of dark the world can be. On page 231, Lakshmi conveys to us that she can hear the haunting cries of a new girl fading away into the misery of contamination but at the same time, she's not surprised. Lakshmi has adapted to her surroundings and by doing so, she has realized that she is becoming one of them. She has completely turned away from her innocent farm girl self so she could learn how to survive. Another example of this realism was on pages 238-239. On these pages, the truth was revealed to Lakshmi and she realized that no matter how many men she pleasure or how hard she worked to pay off her debt, it would never be repaid and she would be stuck in the brothel until she found it to be her only salvation. "'You will never pay off what you owe.' she says. 'Mumtaz will work you until you are too sick to make money for her. And then she will throw you out on the street.' I shut my eyes and shake my head from side to side. She is wrong. Because if she is right, everything I've done here, everything that's been done to me, was for nothing." (p.239) In these pages, Lakshmi realized that life in the brothel was even worse than expected and that even the things that seemed like they could give her hope, such as paying off her debt to Mumtaz, were snakes hidden within tall grass. She has realized for the final time that life isn't like a storybook, nor is it fair, and that no matter how much hope she has or how much money she tries to save up, she'll never be free.
I honestly thought that this book was one of the better books that I have read in a really long time. I thought that the author channeled desperation perfectly and really allowed the readers to be aware of the danger and evil that is prostitution. I thought the author had very compelling characters and even if we didn't know much about them individually, I thought that she did a wonderful job of still allowing us to care and worry about them. Prostitution is a terrifying crime that we as humans need to deal with and put an end to before it swallows up all of our innocent girls and contaminates them with pain and suffering. I also thought the author did an amazing job at showing us Lakshmi's transformation from this innocent farm girl living in the mountains to a young woman who was perfecting her seduction techniques to get men into bed with her. I thought the author's language was beautiful and I would certainly recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling but heartbreaking story.
I agree with you that there were small moments of hope throughout the whole book especially the last section. Lakshmi went through possibly the worst experience a girl could go through, and yet she still found a way to stay hopeful that she might one day be able to go home and be with the people she loves most. When she becomes friends with some of the other girls, you can tell that they are the only thing she will keep going for, and whenever one of the girls gets kicked out or taken from the brothel, a little part of her wants desperately to just give up, because she thinks that she has nothing else to live for, but every time, she finds a way to keep going and hang on to those small moments hope. "How odd it is that I am undone by the simple kindness of a small boy with a yellow pencil." (p. 183)
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