Sold Themes

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 lies and deceit that occur in Sold are underhanded and often lies of omission. In fact, the lies are often found in what is unsaid. For instance, Lakshmi's never really told what work she will...

It's the classic chicken-or-the-egg issue: does power corrupt characters, or are characters already corrupt and therefore seek power in the book Sold? It's hard to tell because power is generally s...

Friendship in Sold develops in the most unlikely places. Yes Lakshmi had a friend in Gita before she was sold into prostitution, but the more developed and meaningful relationships in the novel occ...

Slavery in Sold is most likely different than what Americans think of when they hear the word slavery. Many of the girls in Happiness House are victims of human sex trafficking. They are stuck at t...

In Sold sex is a violation of self, a physical representation of power with serious and long-lasting physical and psychological effects on its victims. Above all, sex is monetized. It—and the wom...

Language and literacy have power in the novel Sold. Even in a society that is pretty male-dominated and power-oriented, Ama recognizes the value of education—and as a result, Lakshmi attends scho...

There are two major settings in Sold, and Lakshmi experiences suffering in each one. Life for Lakshmi on her mountain in Nepal is not easy, and struggles are a part of daily life—but in Nepal, La...

Innocence is primarily associated with youth, sexual inexperience, and idealism in Sold. On the mountain, Lakshmi—to some extent—leaves the innocence for the role of womanhood when she gets her...

In her mountaintop home in Nepal in the novel Sold, Lakshmi withstands extreme weather, poverty, and disappointment in her mother and her stepfather. Yet she and her family surge forward, because,...