Prompt: Theme (Using characters actions, setting, plot events/conflict)
Book: Sold
Author: Patricia McCormick
Page #: 1-263 (Finished)
In the story Sold by Patricia McCormick two of the overall themes would be fear and the overlooked. In the story a girl named Lakshmi, whom is 13 years old, is sold into sexual slavery. She thought she was going to work as a maid, but when she found out the truth she was absolutely terrified.
At first, when the character is put into her new "home" and has her first customer she reacts scared and defensive, in the story it says, "I bite down with all my might. He cries out "Aghh!" and I am running." This action, defending herself, proves that she is scared. After backing out of her new job she refused to work for days on end, until she was forced to work. She wanted nothing more than to run, but in fear that her family would be robbed their money and that she would get killed, she stayed.
Lakshmi fights back most of the time to Mumatz, her boss. Nothing ever comes good our of it though. She gets beaten with a whip, and gets starved. Occasionally she gets worse, in the story it says, "What I feel next is the gritty sole of her shoe on the side of my head ... She grinds her foot, and the metal edge of my earrings bites into the flesh of my ears. ... my earlobe has been torn through." Even though she tries to fight back she is still scared of her boss. The theme overlooked fits in with this quote too because people fail to notice what actually happens in other countries. They have no idea what these girls are going through.
Setting plays a major part in the theme. Human trafficking usually occurs in poor countries, Nepal is one of them. She never had the ideal house, she lived in a hut. After she leaves she lives in a place, far away from home, and if she tries to leave she gets beaten in the head with a pole. Not only does this make her scared but it forces her to do something she doesn't want to do, work. Lakshmi is forced to live in a ratty apartment building, surrounded by different old, dirty men. No one notices what is happening to them though, the story states, "Each day, a thousand people pass below my window. ... Not one looks up." These girls, forced to work, are overlooked.
It's only after the conflict when the two themes set into place. The conflict didn't necessarily start right when she was sold. It started before, when her stepdad gambles almost everything they have away, which is why she she is sold. When her stepdad loses everything she suggests to work in the city as a maid to help gain money. In poor countries, their citizens are over looked. No one pays attention to the poor, it's the rich people who get the attention, one reason why these girls are sold.
Overall both themes fit into the story perfectly. Fear may be displayed more, through the characters emotions but the theme overlooked is part of the story too. It was the main reason why the book was written in the first place, to gain attention to these unnoticed girls.
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