Dreaming of the Impossible

At the beginning of the book “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, Lakshmi is living a simple life in poverty. She has an education, a loving family and most importantly hope. This poor, inncoent girl is tricked into thinking she will work to buy food for her family and get a tin roof—unfortunately she doesn’t have the faintest idea that she is being sold for prostitute in another country. When Lakshmi finally figures out what’s really happening to her, I began to see how she went from an innocent girl to a brothel employee in another country. What surprised me was that this didn’t stop Lakshmi. Throughout the book there’s this sense of perpetual hope and bravey that lingers inside Lakshmi even when she is locked away from the world scared and afraid. Looking back on the first half of the book, I was able to pick out those specific lines or thoughts Lakshmi had that build on this idea.

As Lakshmi was climbling the mountains of Nepal traveling farther and farther away from her home and before she had any idea where she was going or what kind of “work” she was going to be doing, Lakshmi writes about what she carries—“Inside my head I carry my baby goat, my baby brother, my ama’s face, our family future. My bundle is light. My burden is heavy.” The last part of this chapter really touched me at heart. Sometimes things aren’t always how they seem. This may sound a little broad or general but think about it. It’s just like someone may look perfect and happy on the outside but you can never know for sure how they are on the inside. Lakshmi describes her bundle being light but when she says her burden is heavy, she is referring back to having to leave home and the fear she will soon have to face. I think everyone has things that bring them down in life and to overcome them you must not only have hope in your future, but you must also stand brave and strong.

As I mentioned earlier, Lakshmi is locked in her room when she refuses to do what is told of her in the Happiness House. “I pound on the door. I howl like an animal. I pray. I pace the room. I kick the door. But I do not cry.” This shows how brave and resielent Lakshmi is. It shows how she will fight until the end. When she was forced by the poison to “work” again I felt like at least Lakshmi did what she could. I mean, what else could she have done? She is constantly dreaming of the impossible even though she is locked in a nightmare with no way to escape. She was brave enough to at least try to save herself—all her hair was chopped off so she know there is no way to escape. But if Lakshmi continues to dream, and stands strong, I believe that she will be able to escape. I think dreaming is a way for her to escape form reality internally although she knows that there is no way to escape the literal key that locks her in her room all by herself.

To sum things up, I think that no matter what burdens seem to be bringing you down in your life, you have to dream of the impossible and stand brave and strong. Like Lakshmi you must fight through it and believe that there IS a way to escape because having hopes and dreams aren’t harmful if they don’t happen but they are life changing when they come true.