I believe that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Some may interpret this as pessimistic, however it is nothing but observance of situations that happen all the time- whether it’s in our individual lives or the ones around us. Many times in our lives, we are faced with making decisions for better or for worse. Our morality is tested when we make choices or come across roads that diverge in our own lives. When we avoid making certain decisions, it is definitely just as valuable as making them. The reason is because either way, you begin to walk down an inevitable path. So if you are not contributing to a solution in any circumstance, you may certainly and subconsciously be contributing to the problem.
Towards the middle of the novel Sold by Patricia McCormick, the reader may notice that the main character Lakshmi, struggles with solving her problem. After being sold into sex slavery in Napal, she cannot help but experience more and more innocent girls entering the “Happiness House” or the brothel to which she cannot find herself leaving. The reader understands that surely she is in a difficult position. She must make money for her family: something she truly cares about. Despite this, it is breaking her down and ripping her apart from the inside out. "How they can eat and laugh and carry on as normal when soon the men will come is so perplexing that, while they laugh, I fight back tears." (137) It is obvious that Lakshmi recognizes the situation and the problem because she wants to break away from Mumtez’s horrible grasp. By staying in the Happiness House she certainly contributes to the problem. She is being cheated of both her money and her own happiness. Also, because the police don’t do anything in the first place and ignore the situation, this makes it so the problem just keeps on amplifying to more extremes and more and more innocent girls like Lakshmi are “sold.” If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
Estelle-
ReplyDeleteI think what you're saying makes sense, but it's completely situational. Lakshmi doesn't have a choice to leave. Mumtaz has given her the choice of either staying and paying off her debt or getting thrown out on the street and putting her family at risk. Lakshmi wants to stay alive, so she does the thing that may not be morally right, but it will prove successful for her family in the end. Also, Lakshmi doesn't want to go to the police because she had already seen what happens when the police raid the house. "Then angry voices came from upstairs. I could hear furniture being overturned, wood splintering, a man yelling, a woman crying" (214). Again, this all depends on the situation.
Good job dooood :D