Sold - September 16

Pages read: 186
Topic: Do you think that your book's theme is trying to convey something about today's society?

I think that Sold is all about giving out a message about society. I think that it may not be giving out a message about the US specifically, but in other cultures/countries. So far, I feel like this novel is a lot like "The Lottery"; they both have a meaning of what is going on in society, very explicitly, while leaving a lot of room for personal interpretations. For example, both of them show how violence is happening, in Sold, Lakshmi is being sold into prostitution, and in "The Lottery" Tessi was stoned to death. Both of the stories give a very negative view on the world and many people just don't like to be reminded of all of the negative events happening so they brush it off, but in many other cases, books like these start a lot of talk, and they really touch a lot of people.

Personally, I have never really heard of girls being sold into prostitution in the US, much less Illinois, but I'm not one who keeps up with the news a lot, so there may be something that I missed. I think that Patricia, focused her book in India, because it is known to happen there. I think that Patricia made clear that this girl, like most of the other girls in the "Happiness House" were actually smuggled into India from other surrounding countries because that is mostly how it happens. The girls' families were tricked; they were told that their daughters were going to work as a domestic worker for a few months, but in reality, they traveled hundreds of miles, into a foreign country to rot. One of the main points that Patricia makes is that Lakshmi wants to get an education and risked getting beat by going into someone else's room to try and learn to read. This can be also taken as a different lesson, maybe not only do these girls in these houses not get to have an education, but maybe girls in the setting of the book don't, and that is a huge issue that I think the author tries to convey in her book about our society.

Sold is such a strong book, that has so many different messages, whether they be about friendships, trust, prostitution, or foreign problems, it is sending out a message of what is truly happening around us. This book is one that will stick with us for a very long time because it is something that can't be resolved in a few days or weeks. Sold was made to cause controversy and have people talk about it, so people can see what type of place we live in.