Consequences
In the heart-rending story of a young girl 's struggles to survive, the novel Sold illustrates many important ideas, from the significance of loving relationships to the impact of poverty, and everything in between. Through the character of Lakshmi, an innocent girl stuck in poverty and a world of dishonesty, Patricia McCormick tells a story about the dehumanization of people, and the different struggles that are faced around the world. Lakshmi takes a journey through the life of being a sex slave in India and shows how cruel some people can be. The story is eye opening on several levels, but the primary point being made is that horrific events occur, and no one tries to make a difference. McCormick, author of Sold, uses different …show more content…
The main person in the novel who is most responsible for the horrible acts that occur is Mumtaz. Mumtaz is a self-serving, greedy woman who only concerns herself with her own well being. Throughout the novel, she controls Lakshmi with horrible, threatening remarks that force Lakshmi to follow her orders. While Lakshmi speaks to another girl in the ‘Happiness House’, the girl tells her, “But the rest—the money from the customers—goes to Mumtaz. Your family will never see one rupee more"(238). The girl is explaining to Lakshmi that the money she earned, was not really going to her family, who are experiencing extreme poverty. This is just one example from the text that really shows how selfish Mumtaz is towards the girls she employs. The family of the girls only get the original price paid for her, and the rest, all the money that the girls are making with the men, goes to Mumtaz. Many problems are worsened by the selfishness of Mumtaz, creating issues in both poverty and the world of sextraficking. Since Mumtaz does not give the money to the girls who earned it and forces them to stay in that profession, both these problems grow. Also, during her stay at the ‘Happiness House’ Lakshmi encounters a number of men who are a certain type of evil, including the men who visit the house and take …show more content…
While this event is much different from sex trafficking and poverty in Nepal and India, it is still relevant to the fact that collective egocentric acts cause horrible things to happen. The summary of what occurred in 2010 was that a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was not properly taken care of, and many safety regulations were ignored, in hope of making more money for the company. This is very similar to the way that the girls in the ‘Happiness House’ were treated. Mumtaz did not care for the girls she employed. She only gave them enough comfort to survive, and still be able to make money for her business. In an article from Propublica.com about the rig explosion, when speaking about the fines BP had to pay, the author stated, “That kind of money is unlikely to sting much, considering the profits that major oil companies take in” (Wang). The selfish and careless acts that BP committed towards the maintenance of the rig are well illustrated in this quote. A lot of money was already being made by BP, but they didn 't think it was enough, so they put millions of lives at risk. They did not take into consideration how much damage could be done by not taking care of the oil rig and the amount of lives it would negatively affect. Also in the article, the text said, “A study conducted by the Minerals Management Service found that
In the heart-rending story of a young girl 's struggles to survive, the novel Sold illustrates many important ideas, from the significance of loving relationships to the impact of poverty, and everything in between. Through the character of Lakshmi, an innocent girl stuck in poverty and a world of dishonesty, Patricia McCormick tells a story about the dehumanization of people, and the different struggles that are faced around the world. Lakshmi takes a journey through the life of being a sex slave in India and shows how cruel some people can be. The story is eye opening on several levels, but the primary point being made is that horrific events occur, and no one tries to make a difference. McCormick, author of Sold, uses different …show more content…
The main person in the novel who is most responsible for the horrible acts that occur is Mumtaz. Mumtaz is a self-serving, greedy woman who only concerns herself with her own well being. Throughout the novel, she controls Lakshmi with horrible, threatening remarks that force Lakshmi to follow her orders. While Lakshmi speaks to another girl in the ‘Happiness House’, the girl tells her, “But the rest—the money from the customers—goes to Mumtaz. Your family will never see one rupee more"(238). The girl is explaining to Lakshmi that the money she earned, was not really going to her family, who are experiencing extreme poverty. This is just one example from the text that really shows how selfish Mumtaz is towards the girls she employs. The family of the girls only get the original price paid for her, and the rest, all the money that the girls are making with the men, goes to Mumtaz. Many problems are worsened by the selfishness of Mumtaz, creating issues in both poverty and the world of sextraficking. Since Mumtaz does not give the money to the girls who earned it and forces them to stay in that profession, both these problems grow. Also, during her stay at the ‘Happiness House’ Lakshmi encounters a number of men who are a certain type of evil, including the men who visit the house and take …show more content…
While this event is much different from sex trafficking and poverty in Nepal and India, it is still relevant to the fact that collective egocentric acts cause horrible things to happen. The summary of what occurred in 2010 was that a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was not properly taken care of, and many safety regulations were ignored, in hope of making more money for the company. This is very similar to the way that the girls in the ‘Happiness House’ were treated. Mumtaz did not care for the girls she employed. She only gave them enough comfort to survive, and still be able to make money for her business. In an article from Propublica.com about the rig explosion, when speaking about the fines BP had to pay, the author stated, “That kind of money is unlikely to sting much, considering the profits that major oil companies take in” (Wang). The selfish and careless acts that BP committed towards the maintenance of the rig are well illustrated in this quote. A lot of money was already being made by BP, but they didn 't think it was enough, so they put millions of lives at risk. They did not take into consideration how much damage could be done by not taking care of the oil rig and the amount of lives it would negatively affect. Also in the article, the text said, “A study conducted by the Minerals Management Service found that