Sold (A Tiny Earthquake - A Trade)

The solution to their problems is so sad! I cannot believe that Lakshmi has to go work in the city. I can't imagine leaving my family when I was 13 to go work for the rest of my life. It is crazy, and really unfair. The stepfather is supposed to be the provider for their family, not his stepdaughter. I think Lakshmi handles the situation very well. Although she is nervous, she constantly reassures Ama that everything will be fine. She tells her that maybe now they can have a tin roof. She is a very strong young girl. I do not think many from America would be able to face what she is facing, but I suppose where she lives she grew up expecting something like this to happen. How strange is it that people in the same world can be growing up in such different situations? Ama faces the fact that her daughter is leaving pretty well too. I think mothers try to be distanced from their daughters because a daughter must leave soon anyway. She gives Lakshmi tips for working as a maid, and Lakshmi takes them to heart. Ama also tries to be extremely optimistic for Lakshmi, telling her how she will be the only family member to leave the mountain. This is so weird. I imagine that the mountain is small, so I find it strange that no one has ever left it. I suppose they do not have cars for travel, nor do they have the money to go anywhere else. I think that Ama and Lakshmi both had more deep feelings about her leaving than either was willing to admit.

While they are trying to send Lakshmi to the city, her stepfather answers the questions in a way that degrades Lakshmi a lot. I don't know how she was able to just stand there and let him criticize her in some ways. Has he looked in a mirror recently? Probably not, he must have gambled that luxury away! I cannot believe what Lakshmi is in for! They are talking about her looks and her hips, so I think she is in for more than just a job as a maid. I wonder if her stepfather knows this. He seems to know what the lady he is bargaining with is talking about, but at the same time, how could anyone knowingly sell even their stepdaughter into something like this? I really think that this is going to be like the monsoon...good at first, but slowly destroying everything in its path...

The stepfather is so selfish. When he receives the money, he picks out only things for himself. He does not even think about his wife or his son. Lakshmi has to put items into the basket for them. Surely it proves how selfish he is when his daughter, who is being sold away, perhaps never to see her family again, puts survival items for the others into his basket but does not ask for one thing in return while he thinks only of luxuries for himself!