All over third world countries, young women are sold into prostitution. The novel Sold by Patricia McCormick is an excellent example of how this happens, and how terrifying and awful this can be. In the novel, a young girl named Lakshmi is sent against her own will to be a prostitute in India to provide for her family, even though at first she thought she was going to be a maid. In the place Lakshmi stays, she faces the issues of integrity and evil through many people. The moral of the story is that sometimes in life you do not realize how lucky you actually are and that there are many bad things that occur to people in the world that don’t happen to you.

When Lakshmi is sold to an old woman named Mumtaz, the first thing she knows is that she needs to pay off Mumtaz’s debt to the family. However, because Mumtaz is corrupted by money and greed, she lies about the money exchange and Lakshmi may never return home. For example, in the text, the author writes “I have been beaten here, locked away, violated a hundred times, and a hundred more times. I have been starved, and cheated, tricked and disgraced.” This illustrates what happens in the world to some people and how lucky others are with less pain. Also that Mumtaz is awful and how she treats her as a slave.In the text, it says “‘Let me do the calculations for you,’ she says. She pretends to be adding and subtracting. ‘Yes,’ she says, ‘It’s as I thought. You will have at least five more years here with me.’” Laksmi will never be able to pay her debt because Mumtaz will be cheating her. Her family will gain nothing, and she will never leave that miserable place.

When people are going through something painful or horrific, they do not expect more afterwards which can show how unspoiled they are. Also, it can change them in many ways. For example, Lakshmi says in the story “When he looks, he sees cigarettes and a rice beer, a new vest for himself. I see a tin roof.” This shows that Lakshmi is looking for only necessities and nothing more. That she doesn’t want luxuries, only a small roof to cover her family’s heads to not get sick in the rain. Only this thought helps her get through the struggle, and it shows what kind of person she is. Over the course of the story, Lakshmi changes and becomes more courageous. At the beginning, she is shy and scared, but at the end, she becomes courageous and less frightened. For example, at the beginning, Lakshmi is afraid to tell the cops about Mumtaz's illegal actions. But in the end, she can tell them who she is and that she is here for a bad reason. She says " 'My name is Lakshmi' I say,'I am from Nepal. I am fourteen years old.' " This goes back to how she does not get many fortunate things and that some people are lucky to be born with a life with less problems and pain.

Finally, Lakshmi becomes desperate and will do anything to get out of this prostitution home in an Indian city. For example, she states “Any Man, Every Man, I will be with them all...whatever it takes to get out of here.” This proves that she is determined to leave this place no matter what disgusting things she will have to do. In addition, not only is Lakshmi eager to leave, but the other girls are competing against each other to get away. One of Lakshmi’s roommates in the prostitution house came to her room one night and said “ ‘Stay away from him, understand?’ I understand that this man is one of her regulars. But I will not agree to what she asks.” This prostitute is truly desperate to leave and won’t  let Lakshmi get the money if she can. This also illustrates that because of how awful prostitution is, it can make you desperate to leave, no matter the cost.

All in all, Sold by Patricia McCormick showed that some people in life go through many worse experiences than others. Also, it proved that these experiences can change the way a person can think or feel because they expect less. The people that go through these struggles use them to become stronger and learn from the experience.