Narlock Post 3

Patricia McCormick writes Sold in such a way that gives it a very truthful tone, but at the same time deep, dark and depressed.

Her syntax is one thing that influences the tone; the short, down to the point sentences provide the bare information, which don't need anything extra to make them interesting. While describing her customers Lakshmi explained how she overheard two customers discussing what they paid for her: 30 rupees. "Thirty rupees. That is the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola at Bajati Sita's store. That is what he paid for me" (146). There were no descriptive adjectives added to these sentences to make the reader understand how horrible this was. McCormick provided the basic information which was just enough to convey her point.

The author portrays her tone in Sold by stripping the images down to their bare necessities, making them as brutally true and real as they can possibly be. McCormick understands that the subjects she brings up in the book are horrible enough on their own that she doesn't need to add anything else to enhance the quality of the book. "Then he is on top of me, and something hot and insistent is between my legs. He grunts and struggles, trying to fit himself inside me. With a sudden thrust I am torn in two" (121). The author didn't hold back; she pretty much straight up said that Lakshmi was drugged and raped, and without adding any extra details or enhancements. This is all bad enough on it's own.

Lakshmi's change in language helped convey the tone in the book. She started off as someone who seemed to have a normal childhood, minus the poverty. Her language showed excitement, playfulness, immaturity; all normal things seen in a child of her age. As she experienced trauma her childhood was completely skipped, and she began to essentially numb things out, making herself appear more old and mature than she actually was. "Soon, though, I had to work to recall them. But eventually, with much tracing and retracing, they became threadbare, thin as the blanket on my bed, until one day my heart nearly stopped when I could not summon them up" (131). Lakshmi was unaware of it at the time, but the fact that she was beginning to forget these memories meant that she was subconsciously shutting her old life out, and beginning her new life at Happiness House. Something as simple as a change in language from this character was enough for the reader to understand how dark and twisted her life has become.