Solari Post 5

The definition of the word story is, "A narrative, either true or fiction, designed to interest, amuse or instruct the reader or listener." Stories are used to pass and transfer information. Every story has an underlying message, a moral. Generation after generation have learnt from history and stories from the past. However, a story is so much more complex than just a message. A story can force us to change the course of our lives or make better decisions.

In Sold, Lakshmi's family sells her into sex slavery. Her innocence defies her as she is living this unjust life, unaware of the sickness of it all. However, in my opinion, Lakshmi isn't necessarily learning from others stories, much rather her own. In the end of the book, she realizes this is not the life she has to live. She reflects on what she has gone through and has an epiphany. When the Americans come back for her, to take her away from the "Happiness house" she is scared to leave, but she knows she needs to be saved. "Something inside me breaks open, and I run down the steps" (page 263.) Lakshmi learned from her own stories, she drew on past knowledge and was able to provide herself with a better life.