How freedom and lack of freedom is represented in ‘Sold’
Introduction
General Idea
The fastest, ever-expanding item is not a cash crop or even innovative technology, it is children. Child trafficking has grown into an international trade due to large sums of money collected from the commerce. Child sex trafficking refers to the enslavement of young women for sex. This vice deprives girls of their innocence and childhood.
Background information
Patricia McCormick's Sold’ narrates the story of a girl who was sold into sexual bondage in India. The book consists of a sequel of brief chapters which contain the personal perspective of the main character. Irregular disturbing accounts of sexual slavery are told with precise detailed language which then builds up imagery at the back of the mind of the reader. Against the horrifying background of sex slavery, the main character in the book can find strength amidst her painful experiences. At the onset of the book, the girl is brought up in a rural region, and later on, she is tricked into human trafficking by one of her close neighbors. She later ends up in a foreign country where she is exploited sexually. Later on, she escapes the horrible ordeal and thus, Lakshmi’s story is told.
Thesis
Through the use of imagery, symbolism, and metaphors, the author demonstrates a lack of freedom for Lakshmi in ‘Sold’
Body Paragraph
Claim
McCormack employs imagery to emphasize the severe restrictions imparted on characters in their work lives. It assists the reader in comprehending the book's message and facilitates the progression of the story throughout the book. For instance, imagery has been used to describe the aesthetic beauty of the countryside, scarcity, prejudice, and the girl's situation at Happiness House.
Context
Countryside life is challenging and only the strong can overcome each day. One morning Lakshmi's parent, 'bends down to stir the kitchen fire and to plait my hair before I go school’. She trudges up and down the mountain, a heavy basket braced on her back and held fast by a rope around her brow, she is bent under the weight of her burden daily’. The nightlife does not get any easier as Lakshmi's mother either, ‘she serves my stepfather his dinner, and she kneels at his feet.’ (58)
Comment
This imagery is used to illustrate the hardships women endured as they toiled for the sake of their families and children all the while serving the needs of controlling men; their backs are bent due to the enormous workload they carry daily. The imagery gives the reader a deeper understanding of Lakshmi's background consequently, enabling the reader to capture the society in which the main character lived before slavery.
Connection
All through the book, the author uses imagery to draw out mental pictures consequently, helping readers in relating to the entire story (Alobeytha et al., 2018).
Conclusion
In short, imagery illustrates how Lakshmi's laborious life, even before she was sold into prostitution, confined her to hardship
Claim 2
Apart from imagery, the writer uses symbolism to show how the poor are confined by their wealth or lack thereof (Alobeytha et al., 2018).
Context
To Lakshmi, roofs represent, a family’s prosperity. Tin roofs in particular symbolize affluence and imply that 'the family has a father who doesn’t gamble away the landlord’s money playing cards in the tea shop,’ or that ‘the family has a son working at the brick kiln in the city’ (80). Most importantly, a tin roof means that, ‘when the rain comes, the fire stays lit and the baby stays healthy’. Lakshmi’s poverty-stricken family can only afford a thatched roof which exhibit qualities contrary to tin roofs.
Conclusion
Thus, in ‘Sold’, symbolism is used draw stark contrasts between the financial constraints of the rich and the poor. Impoverished families like Lakshmis’ have an inability to meet basic let alone live luxurious lives due to lack of monetary freedom
Claim 3
Metaphor uses exaggerated terms to describe the main character’s lack of freedom and options. Metaphors give grounds for comparing lack of freedom and freedom.
Context
Lakshmi comes from a poor background which deters her freedom. For instance, Lakshmi’s mother is extremely devoted and hardworking woman who is hindered of living a freedom- filled life due to her duty to her family. In the long run her body gives in to the pressures of life, ‘her slender back,’ ‘which bears our troubles’ (65). T
Comment
The author uses Lakshmi mother’s bent posture to demonstrate lack of freedom from her domestic duties (Gale, 2016). She lives a desolate life filled with sadness and anguish. As a result of the burdens she bears, her back arches.
Connection
Metaphors helps the reader to picture the actual struggles of the main character. India has some of the poorest people in the world (Gale, 2016). Therefore, metaphors descriptions help the reader to picture the main character’s struggles.
Conclusion
In summary, metaphors enhance the author’s implied comparison of freedom and lack of it. The reader can easily compare the gender difference found in Lakshmi’s community. For instance, Lakshmi’s step father is metaphorically compared to Lakshmi’s hardworking mother.
Summary
‘Sold' illustrates the story of a girl who is sold into slavery. It is told in a first-person perspective. Lakshmi has to fight off her oppressors and run back to her home. Metaphors give the reader a vivid description of the book’s narrative and assists in the illustration of lack of freedom. Set in Nepal Mountains where the women serve their husbands devotedly and tend to the farmlands, imagery is used to illustrate the hardships women go through. Symbolism is used to depict how women are burdened and looked down upon by the entire society.
References
Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for Patricia McCormick's" Sold". Gale, Cengage Learning.
Alobeytha, F. L., Mohamed, A. H., & Ab Rahman, F. (2018). The Identity of The Trafficked Child In Young Adult Literature: Patricia Mccormick’sold. International Journal of Education, 3(9), 01-09.
McCormick, P. 2016. Sold
