English 2.9 – Wide Reading

Text style: Novel Written by: Patricia McCormick 

Brief Summary

“Sold” tells the story of a 13 year old girl, Lakshima, who lived in a hut in the mountains of Nepal. Her family is incredibly poor but she manages to find beauty and enjoyment in little things such as her mother brushing her hair and playing with her pet goat. Lakshima perceives her life as completely comfortable as she enjoys growing up in  the mountains surrounded by her family, her pet goat and her cucumbers. Unfortunately though matters turn to the worst as the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away and destroy the remains of the families crops. After this moment her father explains to her that she has to leave home and start working a job to support her family. 

Lakshima endures a long journey to India where she is supposedly going to work as a maid for a wealthy woman at a place known as the “Happiness House”. She eventually discovers that she has been sold into prostitution and is now living under the rule of a disgusting man known as Mumtaz. She is told that she cannot leave until she has paid off her debt but Mumtaz is cruel and cunning and cheats her of her meager earnings basically meaning she will never leave. 

She lives trapped in a nightmare, unable to free herself or escape from the terrifying and inhuman new world she has been forced to live in. There are many other women in the happiness house all ages ranging from as young as her to as old as her mother. Firstly she is confused and scared of all the women resulting in her keeping to herself but eventually she makes friendships. These friendships help her pass time in the happiness house she also meets a boy (who sells food at the happiness house) who she names that David Beckham boy. She spends many days contemplating his life outside the happiness house and slowly but surely falling in love. They begin to develop a closer relationship as he teaches her how to read and write.

As she is working in the house she is visited by an American man who pays to be with her but doesn’t want to have sex with her. He asks for details about her (age, name, home) and states that he can help her. She is reluctant and confused but over time manages to make the decision to leave the happiness house and go to “a clean place”. A few days later the house is raided by the police and the story finishes with Lakshima explaining herself as best she can.

“My name is Lakshmi,” I say.

“I am from Nepal.

I am fourteen years old.”

Personal Response

The book, Sold by Patricia McCormick, opened my eyes to many aspects of poverty and prejudice that I otherwise would not understand. Being sold into prostitution at age 13 by your family is something I cannot even comprehend happening yet this book displayed that it is something that occurs regularly. 

My response was fuelled by a huge amount of disgust and anger not only towards the lack of morals present in some of the characters in the book but also due to my ignorance. I found it hard to sit there and read a story of a 13 year old girl who has been put through hell and more pain than anyone should have to endure when I am just sitting here ignorantly in my sheltered, little bubble. These realizations were presented to me the harsh realities of some Lakshima’s life. Displayed not only through the fact that she was sold into prostitution by her family because they were so desperately poor, but also by the way she was so gratefull for the little things in her life. At the beginning of the book while she was living in the Nepalese mountains with her family she spoke about her life in a very happy light. 

“In the evening, the brilliant yellow pumpkin blossoms will close, drunk on sunshine, while the milky white jasmine will open their slender throats and sip the chill Himalayan air.”

She made what I would consider an uncomfortable and unfortunate upbringing seem somewhat pleasant. Every word she uses to describe her home has a positive connotation painting a beautiful image of the Nepalese mountains. The reality of her life was that she had no money, a very minimal education and she spent most of her time working doing chores for her family. They lived in a tin hut and she perceived that as “lucky” because it meant that she wouldn’t get sick and die over winter. These privileges are all things that I completely overlook in my life and take for granted. Having a pair of shoes and being safe from the winter cold is something that I expect and if these things didn’t exist in my life I would react much worse than Lakshima does. I have not only a roof over my head and clothes on my back but am constantly provided with opportunities to educate myself and enjoy my life. This was the real moment that I began to question how much I take for granted. It wasn’t really the life necessities (such as clean water, food, shelter, clothing) that made me question how I would live without them because I guess I found it so hard to comprehend what that would be like, I know that’s ignorant but it’s the truth. What really made me think about my own life was the things that gave Lakshima enjoyment in her own life. So much of the narration from when she was living in the mountains with her family discussed her pet goat and how much time she spent with him. She also speaks fondly of her cucumbers;

“Each of my cucumbers has a name.”

*goes onto explain each of their names*

“I treat them all as my children.”

These small things in her life were seemingly big and gave her joy on a day to day basis. When reflecting on my life it’s overwhelming how many opportunities I am given. I can play nearly any sport I want, I can learn instruments, I have time to spend with my friends and time and support to excel in a particular area that I want to… which in my life is music. I am able to clutter and make my life chaotically interesting with the things I love. In Lakshimas situation she doesn’t even have the opportunity to FIND what she loves. This made me reflect heavily on the unfairness within our world. Why do I  get a chance and she doesn’t?

It is clear that the biggest form of prejudice within this book is sexism. Along with the classism and quite possibly racism, Lakshima is most commonly affected by the weight of the intense sexism in Nepal and India. This first became obvious to me as something that was drastically different to my life in Wanaka when she got her period. Lakshima was treated very differently to how you would in our society where you get endless support from your family and teacher e.t.c. Getting her period was treated as a very significant moment in her life that went on to define her as a woman. Instead of living her life freely how she used to  she is taught the ways of womanhood and how she must behave from now on.

Before today, Ama says, you could run as free as a leaf in the wind.

Now, she says, you must carry yourself with modesty, bow your head in the presence of men, and cover yourself with your shawl.

Never look a man in the eye.

Never allow yourself to be alone with a man who is not family.

And never look at growing pumpkins or cucumbers when you are bleeding.

Otherwise they will rot.

Once you are married, she says, you must eat your meal only after your husband has had his fill. Then you may have what remains.

If he burps at the end of the meal, it is a sign that you have pleased him.

If he turns to you in the night, you must give yourself to him, in the hopes that you will bear him a son.

If you have a son, feed him at your breast until he is four.

If you have a daughter, feed her at your breast for just a season, so that your blood will start again and you can try once more to bear a son.

If your husband asks you to wash his feet, you must do as he says, then put a bit of the water in your mouth.

I ask Ama why. “Why,” I say, “must women suffer so?”

“This has always been our fate,” she says. “Simply to endure,” she says, “is to triumph.”

I understand that much of this is down to religious belief but it is laced with undeniably sexist attitudes. It blatably states that women are inevitably inferior and are basically existing to  please their husbands. This part of the book shocked me as I realised how far behind some third world countries are when it comes to gender equality. Wanaka is a reasonably open-minded and progressive place to live and growing up in this environment has solidified my attitudes towards respecting myself as a woman. If someone had come up to me when I got my period and told that I had to start acting like a woman by putting men first and basically treating them like royalty I probably would have punched them in the face.

Another part of the book that really broadened my perspective and created an emotional response from me was the way she has never been touched gently and with love and respect by a man. Obviously this was something that was present throughout the entire time that she was living in the happiness house during her book. She was living and working full time in a brothel, men don’t typically visit to show the women respect and this was very clear to me throughout the entire text however it really hit me in one particular moment in the text. Lakshima is visited by a man who’s different from the rest, he shows her the slightest bit of respect in which she described in depth as if it was something amazing. 

“The man who came to my room today was not like the others. He was young and clean and gentle.

He did not simply stand and zip his trousers when he was finished, or fall heavily asleep on top of me the way some do. He didn’t fix his hair in the mirror and walk out without a word.

He held me.

Perhaps it was an accident. Or perhaps he forgot where he was, imagining for a moment he was with his sweetheart.

But I could feel myself, my true self give in to the simple pleasure of being held. His body warmed mine the way the Himalayan sun warms the soil. His skin was soft—like the velvet of Tali’s nose. And his contentment soaked through to me like an evening rain shower.

And so I held him, too.

Slowly, I put my arms around him and allowed them to stay.

Eventually, we pulled apart. I was the last to let go.

He stood and looked at me with something like shyness. “Thank you,” he said. Harish had taught me how to say thank you m his language, but it seemed a paltry word for my debt to this man.”

She named him the “hugging man” and thinks about him often, this reflects how special and foreign it felt for her to be touched in a way that wasn’t coincided with disrespect. This part of the book created a very emotional response from me, as someone who views intimacy as something quite personal and special, to see her in this moment accentuating the huge lack of respect and love that she was given made me really upset. He wasn’t truly caring for her,  after all he was there for one reason and one reason only. However she found a small feeling inside of him and managed to cling onto because that was all she had. The way she hadn’t experienced or felt love in so long made me reflect on how much I need it in my life. Not just intimacy but every form of love I get, the unconditional support from my parents, the empathy from my friends, the way my sister looks at me, the way my boyfriend hugs me when I’m sad. I need love to function and to feel as if I have a purpose. The thought that this poor 13 year old girl had been stripped of every form of love resulting in the lack of love for herself is incomprehensible and incredibly upsetting to me.

Overall the story of Lakshima managed to teach me many things about a life very different to mine. Of course my opinion and view of her and that life will always be clouded by a slight ignorance and shallow understanding because I have been brought up in such a privileged environment. It makes it hard for me to fathom the series of events that have occurred in her life however I do feel a deeper awareness of the harsh things lesser people have to endure and a bigger awareness of the beautiful things in my life that I take for granted. Not only will I be making changes to the way I view my own life but I’ll also be contemplating ways to fix this issue in the near future as it’s something I see as extremely inhuman and needs to be solved.