How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
A few days later, when I am finally strong enough to get out of bed, I pass by a mirror. The face that looks back is that of a corpse.
Her eyes are empty. She is old and tired. Old and angry.
Old and sad. Old, old, a hundred years old. (129.AnOldWoman.1-2)
After Lakshmi recovers from her sexually transmitted infection, she sees a reflection of herself and calls herself a "corpse." She also repeats the word "old" six times here. In what ways in Lakshmi old?
Quote #8
"When they heard I was coming," she says, "they met me outside the village and begged me not to come back and disgrace them."
"Did you get to see your daughter?" I say.
Monica cannot meet my eyes.
"They told her I was dead." (130.TheLivingDead.10-13)
When survivors of human trafficking return home, depending on where they're from there is a strong possibility that the society they once belonged to will reject them and isolate them from the community. Sometimes this occurs within the community through talk and actions, and sometimes the survivor is physically driven out of the community. So the effects of sex on the human trafficking victims don't end when they are able to leave the brothels.
Quote #9
And I understand then, somehow, that Monica, the thirsty vine, Monica, the one with tricks to make men pay extra, sleeps with this tattered rag doll. (136.InsteadofHarish.9)
Despite her seemingly sexually adventurous nature, Monica is simply hiding her deep vulnerability to cope with the reality of being at the mercy of Mumtaz and the men she sleeps with.