Sold Character Analysis

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Recommended: Human trafficking and modern slavery

According to facts.randomhistory.com, there are currently more human slaves in the world than ever before. It is difficult to imagine how anyone could withstand the harsh mental and physical abuse caused by this utterly brutal treatment, yet that is exactly what occurred in Patricia McCormick's novel, Sold. Lakshmi, a thirteen year-old girl needs to support her poor family. She meets a woman who tells her where to find a job as a maid in India. When she arrives, she finds out that she has been sold as a sex slave by the woman. Lakshmi endures cruelty given by Mumtaz, the owner of the brothel, and her customers, but survives due to friendship and kindness from a few key characters throughout the novel.
Harish, the child in which Lakshmi first …show more content…

The man gave Lakshmi an accidental kindness, hence the title of the page. The man comes one night into the Happy House as one Lakshmi’s customers, but unlike the other men, he holds Lakshmi. This really helps Lakshmi to release the stress that she has been holding onto at the Happy House and remember what it is like to be home. “I could feel myself, my true self, give in to the simple pleasure of being held.” (176) “His skin was soft--- like the velvet of Tali’s nose” (176) The man also gave Lakshmi something to look forward to, which in turned helped her to be patient as she was trapped in the Happy House. She had waited many days for him, hoping that they would fall in love with one another. “It has been twelve days since the hugging man came. (179) “It has been thirty days since the hugging man came.” (185)
Harish, Shahanna, and the hugging man are all character that supported Lakshmi and helped her to endure Mumtaz’s and her customers’ cruelty within the Happy House. They all helped her with friendship and kindness to stay strong, giving her a reason to keep pushing forward even when she is put into the pain and suffering in human trafficking. Patricia McCormick managed to intensely capture the reality of human trafficking and sex slavery in her novel Sold, after traveling to India and Nepal to research the customs and hear the stories of other girls rescued from the terror of human

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