Sold Theme of Gender

At the beginning of Sold, Ama explains that women are meant to endure their lives to Lakshmi, and that's what we see throughout the novel—women enduring. But despite their lower social status in the novel, we see women—namely Mumtaz, Auntie Bimla, and Bajai Sita—who seek power in whatever ways possible, even though that power means that they degrade and enslave other women.

And the roles of men are complicated too. There are men who sell Lakshmi, but also men and boys who are kind, who teach her, and who help her escape slavery. So on both sides of the gender lines, it's hard to make definite associations with good or evil.

The setting of the novel Sold introduces readers to a culture and social world they might not be familiar with. Nepal and India are fairly patriarchal, with rituals and actions that reinforce the differences of power between men and women. Does this mean that Sold is a commentary on gender inequality? Not really. Many societies have a power structure based on gender within them.

And the social customs around gender within Sold are only one of the factors that permit Lakshmi's story to take place. In some ways characters defy gender expectations—being female doesn't necessarily make a character sympathetic, and being male doesn't necessarily make a character evil. Gender is much more complicated than that both in the novel… and in real life.

1. How does Lakshmi feel about her place in her village as a girl and as a woman, and what contributes to her attitude?
2. Why might McCormick have chosen a woman to run Happiness House? What might she be commenting on regarding women and how their social roles are defined?
3. What feminine qualities are valued in Lakshmi's village? At Happiness House? Why might these be valued in both places, and how do these values affect the status of women in general?
4. Why might McCormick have a man rescue Lakshmi from Happiness House?
   

Lakshmi is too independent to be a subservient woman in the novel.

McCormick characterizes women as either subservient or power-hungry.