Sold

“My bundle is light.

My burden is heavy” (60).

Sold deals with important concepts such as trust, feminist interests and patriarchy, and the sex industry. From the beginning of the novel, Lakshmi deals with what it means to be female in the patriarchal society of Nepal. Her mother informs her that they are fortunate to have a man in their lives. However, that man, Lakshmi's stepfather, doesn't actually seem to offer any benefit to the family; because of a disabled arm he simply sits in the tea shop and plays cards. The way McCormick tells the story, the stepfather is a negative force on the family, gambling away what little they have will doing little to provide or care for them. But in Lakshmi's mother's eyes, for a woman, “Simply to endure is to triumph” (16). This stepfather is ultimately the force that drives her to leave for the city after her mother told her she should stay home to go to school.

Patricia McCormick uses language skillfully to communicate important and emotional topics tangential to the plot. For example, in “Calendar” she discusses induced abortions, and in “Another Calendar” she discusses the high infant mortality rate by discussing an absence of notches in a wedding trunk for Lakshmi's younger siblings. McCormick's careful use of language – and sometimes lack of language – illustrates Lakshmi's experiences. The first sexual experience Lakshmi had as a prostitute was explained in fairly explicit detail, but as her time as a prostitute progressed, McCormick communicates the complacency Lakshmi developed as she no longer cares about the individual experiences by leaving them out.

I believe the students will be able to relate to Lakshmi's character and understand her experiences.

The language is straightforward (save for some of the names of people and places) and the vignettes are short, painting a clear picture of what Lakshmi perceives to be happening as she tells them. Though the novel contains a rather mature theme of sex slavery, there is excitement in the conflict that would draw a young reader into the narrative. Lakshmi's experiences are so far distant from what most American teenagers have experienced. It is hard to imagine, especially for an urban American, waiting on the rain as a source of livelihood. Yet the reader becomes immersed in these experiences, drawn into Laksmi's hope and muted despair as she encounters hardship after hardship.

The conclusion of the book returns hopefulness to the reader as Lakshmi once again feels she can identify herself to the American men. But the preceding pages communicate the horror that is the sex industry, especially in the third world. This book is a strong example of the way that literature can approach social issues, making them accessible to a wide audience.