Patricia Mccormick's Sold Sparknotes

It is hard to imagine how liberation could be a product bought by status. Throughout life, people are continuously confronted with the reality of societal rankings. Patricia McCormick’s realistic fictional novel, Sold, tells the story of Lakshmi, a young girl thrown into the world of human trafficking. As she is forced to come to terms with her circumstances, the story follows her struggle for autonomy. Through the lens of Marxist criticism, readers discern that economic status and social class shape one’s perceptions and emphasize the human experience of holding onto hope in the face of adversity, however, when analyzed through the lens of feminist criticism, other readers may derive that gender norms and the oppression of women influence
Continuing with a socioeconomic perspective, author, Lusy Syarifah analyzes Sold and its focus on patriarchal structures that are prevalent in Nepal’s economy. Syarifah covers how status is deeply rooted in the culture and in many households, there is a hierarchy of power. Syarifah's analysis underscores how Lakshmi's experiences in the brothel, while undoubtedly traumatic, are rooted in a broader context of patriarchal oppression that is seen throughout Nepalese society. Both she and her mother had to obey their stepfather as shown, “If the rains don’t come soon. you will have to sell your earrings” (McCormick 23). Here Lakshmi's stepfather tells her mother if she cannot earn enough money she has to sell the earrings that she was planning on giving to Lakshmi. Ultimately, her mother complies and Lakshmi is left without complaint. Her mother often let herself be constricted by traditional norms and perpetuated a subordinate status within the