The final third of the book is devastating but also hopeful. Devastating because of all the horrible things Lakshmi has has to endure, but hopeful because of the second chance at life she is given by the American man. Towards the end of the book, Lakshmi is visited by an American man who has the intention of taking her away from Happiness House and bringing her back home. Lakshmi tells herself to pretend it never happened and try to forget about him, as she does not want to get her hopes up just to watch him never return for her. Before the proposition of the American, Lakshmi was just coming to terms with the fact that she would only leave the Happiness House if she was too sick to work, meaning she would probably not leave alive. She would spend the remainder of her life working as a sex slave to Mumtaz, with no hope of escaping and living a normal life ever again. When the American comes to her and tells her he will take her away from the brothel, she is shocked and worried that he is lying, but because it is her only chance, she chooses to trust him, "The American man says he will come back. He will return, he says, as soon as he can, with the other men and the good police officers who will force Mumtaz to let me go (251)." Even though Lakshmi has been lied to many other times by people that were supposed to help her, (like Uncle Husband, Auntie, etc.), she is still willing to trust the American man. She realizes this is her one and only chance at getting out of the brothel, and if she doesn't take it, the oppurtunity will be lost forever. Even after all the horrible things that have happened to Lakshmi throughout the story, it is promising and hopeful that it ends on the great note of her survival and redemption.
My favorite part of this book is when it occurs to Lakshmi that she is no longer the new girl at the brothel, and that there is only one other girl who has been there longer than she has. This part of the book was devastating, and plays with the thought that time is lost inside the Happiness House. At one point towards the end of the book, Lakshmi thinks about herself, and realizes that she does not know exactly how old she is, and that her fourteenth birthday must have passed because of all the time that had gone by. This shows how the concept of time is warped inside the brothel, when the girls have nothing to look forward to in their life.
I totally thought way different than you, i felt the tone of the third part was very determined but hopeful at the same time, parts in the book were devastating but in my view not specifically the last part because after her having to endure all that pain she set herself free. That was the most emotional part because all she wanted to do was get out of that house and back to her family and now. So i wouldn't call it devastating but i definitely agree with you when you say she steadily had hope. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the last third part of the book had the tone of a hopeful girl. True, there were times when she felt crushed and hopeless. I think that the last part really was the build up to the climactic event that took place when the Americans came. The last part of the book really focused on determination which is what made it sound so hopeful.
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