Stories can teach us, humans, many things. They introduce us to new worlds, transporting us into a whimsical dream. Stories can show us what life might have been like 1 million years ago, or might be like 1 million years into the future. Fiction or Non-Fiction you can learn varieties of information, true or false. Stories can also show you the harsh realities of what someone's life is like accross the globe. Stories can change your belifes, what you thought before might not be the same once you read a few sentences.
The book SOLD by Patricia McCormick tells the tale of a Nepali girl sold into the world of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking wasn't something that I was really aware of until reading SOLD. Poor Nepali girls have no choice but to work for their families, by selling their innocence to strangers. Not only is sex trafficking bad, but it is also illegal. Reading SOLD put me in perspective. " Each year, nearly 12,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families, intentionally or unwittinly, into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India." (authors note 264) I felt for this girl, I desperately wanted to help her. It wasn't like there was anything I could do. SOLD proved how stories can change your belifes and completly put your own life into perspective.
I completely agree with you that books open your eyes to subjects and problems that you didn't even know about. I couldn't imagine living a life like Lakshmi's. It is hard to believe that there are places in the world that are as corrupted as Nepal. What really shocked me was when Mumtaz tricked the girls into staying for as long as she wanted When Lakshmi is still getting use to the Happiness House she starts doing her calculations to see when she can pay of her debt and leave. However, Shahanna tells her city subtraction. "Half of what the men pay goes to Mumtaz, she says. Then you must take away 80 rupees for what Mumtaz charges for your daily rice and dal. Another 100 a week for renting your bed and pillow. And 500 for the shot the dirty-hands doctor gives us once a month so that we won't become pregnant"(147). It is unbelievable how messed up our world is and without stories like this we would never know.
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