Sold- 11th Post

I am glad that I finished this book. Near the end of the book, a time period of one year has passed. It is amazing that there are only two girl characters left in the house after one year, Lakshmi and Anita. It is strange to think that Lakshmi went throught all of that in one year. She is only fourteen at the end of the novel, and yet she has experienced what I could never dream of. I am very happy that Lakshmi survived this horrible ordeal. It shows that girls can be strong in the toughest of situations. Overall, I really loved this novel. McCormick's style of writing kept me interested. Most of the time, it was hard to read some of the pages. They were so detailed about the rapes and beatings. It really gave me a glimpse into what is happening in the world. It is hard to imagine that this novel was written such a short time ago and that child prostitution occurs in the present day. This book is kind of haunting in a way. Some of the images are going to be hard to get out of my mind. "Sold" is a one of those books that opens your eyes to the reality of the world.

Sold- 10th Post

Pushpa and her children have been kicked out of the house because she was sick. Lakshmi misses Pushpa and Harish. Harish was such a good friend to her. Many men come and go, but one day an American man comes to visit Lakshmi. Auntie Mumtaz believes that he is just sleeping with her, but the man only talks to Lakshmi. He gives her a card so that she will call him for help. This is a good sign for Lakshmi. Maybe now she can escape from the "Happiness House." She keeps the meeting a secret from Auntie Mumtaz so she will not get in trouble. I believe that Lakshmi will finally be rescued.

Sold- 9th Post

Lakshmi's friendship with Harish continues to blossum. One day he gives her a pencil. She is so appreciative of this gift that he has given her. I guess it is a symbol of hope to her. Harish's mother, Pushpa, is sick. I think that she has gotten an STD. It must be common for this to happen in the house, being that the women sleep with many men. Auntie Mumtaz is being her usual self by threatening Pushpa about her illness. She even threatens to take away her children. How cold-hearted could she be to take away a mother's children? This is such a sad story.

Sold- 8th Post

The poems of this story are getting harder to read. The author describes the events going on with such detail. Lakshmi explains about how the men use her and tear her apart. It is almost unbearable to think about. The thought that child prostitution is going on today all over the world is unimagineable. While Lakshmi is at the whore house, she makes friends with Pushpa's son, Harish. He is very nice to her. He gave her a book. He is also trying to teach her how to read. There is a connention between the two. Lakshmi grows to like some of her clients. She does not hate all of them. Some of them treat her with respect and do not just use her. I thought that it very surprising that the girls watched American soap operas. I did not think that they could watch television shows broadcasted from America. They all like to watch "The Bold and the Beautiful." That is a show that I sometimes watch. I can understand Lakshmi's confusion about the show, being that the show's world is so perfect, and her world is the complete opposite of that. The television shows happily-ever-afters, while she must worry if she will every leave the house or even make it out alive.

Sold- 7th Post

Lakshmi continues making friends with the girls. She meets Anita. I fell bad for Anita. She tells Lakshmi about the time she tried to run away. Auntie Mumtaz had these guys called goondas to find her and bring her back to the house. They disfigured her face. This reminded me of another novel I am reading. It is called "A Fine Balance." It is based in India, and the author uses the word goondas, too. From reading both novels, I have learned that goondas are not the type of people that you would want to mess with. I can only imagine how terrified of them Anita was. Pushpa is another girls Lakshmi talks to. She has two children that live in the house with her. It is interesting that Lakshmi can make friends is such a depressing situation. She is strong and tries to make the best of things.

Sold- 6th Post

From the very beginning at "Happiness House," Lakshmi refuses to work as a prostitute. I think this is very noble of her. At first, despite beatings and starvation, she does not comply to sell her body. I think that Auntie Mumtaz is a horrible person. How could a woman force young girls, even children, to become prostitutes. What if she was in that situation? I think that she oly thinks about herself and no one else. It is sad that Lakshmi, after refusing to be a prostitute, is drugged and raped. It is very hard to read these poems about how the men rape her. After a while, Lakshmi decides that she must sleep with the men to pay off her debt to Auntie Mumtaz. It must have been hard to make that decision. Auntie Mumtaz then advertises Lakshmi as the "virgin" of "Happiness House." She could only be named that for a while, so Auntie Mumtaz decided that she was no better than the rest of the girls. She told Lakshmi to live witht he other girls of the house. Lakshmi makes friends with some of the girls. They give her advice on how to survive in the house. One of these girls in named Shahanna. She tells Lakshmi how the house works and what she should do to make life easier. I like Shahanna. She seems like a genuine friend to Lakshmi.

Sold- 5th Post

The man that is Lakshmi's "Uncle" tells Lakshmi that she needs to call him her husband. He seems like a shifty character. I can tell that Lakshmi is afraid of him and that she is confused. To make her feel better, the man gives Lakshmi sweets and food. Theycontinue to travel into India where they reach the city and a place called the "Happiness House." For the third time, Lakshmi is sold to a woman named Auntie Mumtaz. I cannot imagine how scared Lakshmi must have been to be sold to different people in such a short period of time. Lakshmi finds out that "Happiness House" is a place of prostitution. I think that it is very ironic that the whore house is called "Happiness House," being that it is anything but happy. I did not know that there was child prostitution like this in other countries. It is very disturbing to read about these kinds of events.

Sold- 4th Post

A woman comes to Lakshmi's village and tells her family that she is going to take Lakshmi to the city to become a maid for a rich family. Her stepfather sells her to the woman. This explains my thoughts before about how fishy this seems. Why would he sell Lakshmi to the woman, if she was just going to get a job to support her family. The woman who takes Lakshmi tells her to call her "Auntie." "Auntie" appears to be very glamorous and fascinating, but I think otherwise. She has black teeth, which I think means that there is something evil about her. They go on a journey for a few days. Then something interesting happens. "Auntie", whose real name is Bilma, sells Lakshmi to a man. I did not expect this to happen. I thought that Bilma would just have taken her to the city. The man tells Lakshmi that he will be her Uncle for the rest of the trip. So far in the story, I think that Lakshmi is being tricked into something that she has no idea is coming. The story is very suspenseful.

Sold- 3rd Post

At this point in the novel, there is a drought where Lakshmi lives. A rainstorm arrives and destroys all of the rice crops that they would have sold as a profit. A poor financial situation derives from this "flood", and Lakshmi's stepfather decides that she needs to go into the city and get a job. She believes that she will be working as a maid for some rich family. This was what she had hoped for. Lakshmi wanted to work for a rich family and send money back to her family. From what the story is saying, I do not believe that Lakshmi is going to be a maid. There seems to be some underlying fact hidden in the story that is not yet uncovered. At this point in the novel, I really like the story. It is very serious yet fascinating to read at the same time. The way the author writes is something that I have never seen before.

Sold- 2nd Post

I was right about Lakshmi's stepfather. He is a real creep. He gambles away everything that Lakshmi and her mother earn for their family. I can tell that he does not respect the women at all by the way he treats them. I fell bad for Lakshmi and her mother because they work so hard to support their family, and the stepfather just goes and ruins everything. It is amazing to me how poor their family is. One of the pages describes the life they live by saying that she pretends that her spit is soup.She also made her cloth around her stomach tighter so she would feel full. This is very depressing, but it is also an thing that occurs all over the world today. Many people have to go through these situations, like starvation, everyday. Even though Lakshmi's situation seems hopeless, she still dreams about a better life and about the boy she is betrothed to, Krishna. I think that she has so much strength for having hope in such a depressing situation.

Sold-1st Post

When I first started reading "Sold," I thought that the way Patricia McCormick wrote was interesting yet weird. It took me a few pages to fully understand what was being said. I like how she uses poems to tell the story that is going on. "Sold" is about this young girl named Lakshmi from Nepal. She is thirteen years old. She lives with her mother, stepfather, and her little baby brother. She lives in a small village in the mountains. I feel bad for Lakshmi because of her living situation. I do not believe that she has a very easy life. It seems like she is very hopeful though. I also do not think that Lakshmi's stepfather is a good person. He seems really shady.

Alan Watts- Mythology of Hinduism # 3

When I first viewed this blog, I did not know what to make of it. It was confusing to me at first, but after I watched it a couple of times it became much clearer. I think that when Watts discussed dreaming whatever dream you wanted, he was comparing this to what God is like. In his blog, Watts talked about a person dreaming whatever they wanted. They would fill their dreams with whatever suited them. They would control what happened. After the person would do this, he would get bored, so he created adventures and problems to make his dream more interesting. I think Watts compared this to his opinion of Hinduism by God creating a perfect world. After viewing this perfect world, he got bored, so he introduced war and other things that would make it exciting to live in and exciting for him to view.

In class, we discussed how Hindus believe that God is a part of everything. He is in everything and he knows everything. Watts challenged me to think what would I do if I was God. In my opinion, if I knew everything and was a part of everthing, I would become bored. If there were no surprises and I knew everything that was going to happen, would there be anything interesting or fun in the world? We also discussed in class how the religion of Hinduism believes that all other religions are right in their own way. Watts addresses this by talking about Christianity and the Bible. He recited and verse that was almost exactly what his dream story was about. I found it quite interesting that they could be the same. I like how he explained that each religion has a different view of the same universe. I think that Hinduism is unique in that it can involve all of these different religions.

I also like how Watts explained how God is the head of this huge play (life), that we as people all play a part in it. He doesn't force us to do things, but he still controls what is going on. I think Hinduism is a very interesting and uncomprehendable religion. There just so much information about it that I still do not understand. I think it would be cool to learn more about Hinduism.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 21

Unlike Okonkwo, some of the villagers appreciate what the white missionaries are doing. Because they came, money and trade is flowing into the village. They are becoming very wealthy. The pastor, Mr. Brown discusses religion with different people and tries to understand why they believe the things they do. Mr. Brown also sets up a hospital and a school. He tells the villagers to send their children to the school so that they will become very powerful. The villagers agree and send them. Then, Mr. Brown visits Okonkwo and tells him that Nwoye is in college. Okonkwo chases him away. Okonkwo becomes disappointed becaue no one notices that he has returned to the village. Getting his position back is not as easy as he thought it was going to be.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 20

Okonkwo returns to Umuofia and still plans on marrying off Ezinma and introducing his sons into society. He is very disappointed of how the village has changed since he has been gone. The Christians have taken over everything. They came in with a new set of rules and a judicial system. Okonkwo does not like the white men and wishes to drive them out. Obierika tells Okonkwo that it is too late and that the Christians are very strong. They talk about a man that was hanged because he killed somebody while arguing. Both of them are very sad. It seems like Okonkwo is not giving the white men a chance. He doesn't seem to like change either. He liked things just the way they were before he left.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 19

Finally, the seven year period of exile is coming to an end. Before he leaves, Okonkwo decides to have a feast for the entire village. He wants to thank them for all of their help and courtesy. The people go to the feast and cannot believe how much food there is. They complement Okonkwo all night. Okonko is thankful but still regrets not being able to get a higher position in his own tribe. Now that seven years has passed, Okonkwo thinks of ways to regain his status. His daughter is beautiful, and he thinks that a good marriage will regain his position in the village. At the end of the feast, there is also talk of christianity and how it is taking over the villages.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 18

Many people start to join the christian church. The villager aren't really worried about it, seeing that almost all of the converts are low class. One day some outcasts come to the church. The new converts are outraged that they came. No one is allowed to associate with the outcasts. The pastor settles them down and tells them that anyone is allowed in the church. So, the pastor cleans the outcasts up and cuts their hair. They eventually become the most supportive of the church. One of the outcasts claims to have killed the "holy python." It is very important to the village society. Okonkwo wants to force the missionaries out by harming them, but the village decides to shun them. Okonkwo thinks that the tribe is very weak and pitiful. Eventually the trige learns that the man who killed the snake has died. This reconfirms their faith in their gods, and they don't worry about the christians.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 17

This chapter talks about the missionaries. They tried to build a church in the village. The people would not allow it, so they told the missionaries they could build the church in the Evil Forest. They hoped that the missionaries would be killed by the evil spirits within days. They are surprised to find that nothing has happened to them. Then after twenty-eight days, the spirits' grace period, the villagers expect the missionaries to be killed. Nothing happens. This leads to many converts in the village. Okonkwo's cousin tells him he saw Nwoye with the missionaries. Okonkwo chokes his son and is disgraced with him. Nwoye leaves and goes to the white man's school to learn how to read and write.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 16

Obierika comes back to Mbanta after two years. He brings money and also some distressing news. He has seen Okonkwo's son Nwoye with the white missionaries. They settled in the village. Okonkwo will not speak of Nwoye. He excommunicates him from the family for believing in such a stupid religion. Apparently, the christian missionaries came to the village and talked about this one great god. They told the villagers that it was wrong to worship little stone and wooden idols. They also said that is was wrong to have more than one wife. Most of the villagers laugh at the missionaries, but Nwoye believes them and converts to christianity.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 15

In this chapter, Obierika comes to visit Okonkwo. He brings him money from the yams in his previous village. Obierika also tells Okonkwo of the horrible fate of Abame, a neighboring tribe. A white man came to the village on a strange iron machine. The people talked to the Oracle who said that the white man would bring others and destroy the village. So, the villagers killed the white man and tied him to a tree. Later some white men came to the village and destroyed everthing and everyone. Okonkwo thought that Abame was stupid for not trying to defend themselves. I believe that the white men will be important in the rest of the book. They keep coming up in the story.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 14

Uchendu, Okonkwo's uncle, welcomes Okonkwo into his tribe. The men of the family help Okonkwo build new huts for him and his wives. He starts to plants yams but does not feel as happy while doing it. He had a name in his old village and now he would never become one of the lords of the clan. One of Uchendu's sons gets married and Okonkwo helps out. The next day, Unchendu tells a story of how a man lives in his fatherland when times are good and runs to his motherland when times are bad. He is trying to tell Okonkwo to appreciate what he has and to not take advantage of it.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 12-13

There is a strange twist of events in these two chapters. In chapter 12, it talks about how Okonkwo was worried when Chielo took Ezinma. I think that this shows that Okonkwo has a special place in his heart for her. Then, it talks about Obierika's daughter's wedding day. The whole village gets together and cooks a large feast for the celebration. While the women are cooking, news of a cow running loose is told. The women stop what they are doing and go and retrieve the cow. The owner must pay a fine for damage. While all of this is happening, the men discuss how they do not think that the groom will bring enough wine. They said that at least thirty pots would be good enough. They are impressed when the groom brings fifty pots of wine. I think it is weird that the grooms buy their brides with wine. That is crazy. The wedding and feast are a success. After the celebration, news of Ezeudu's death is heard. Ezeudu was the man who warned Okonkwo not to kill Ikemefuna. Ezeudu was a great warrior and Okonko is sad. During the funeral, Okonkwo accidently shoots his gun and kills Ezeudu's son. He is sentenced to leave the village for seven years. He takes his family to Mbanta, where his mother had lived. It is sad that they had to leave. It is not like Okonkwo meant to kill the son. He should not be punished so severely.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 11

Ekwefi tells Ezinma a story about a tortoise and some birds. Basically, he borrowed some of the feathers from the birds and ate the entire feast that the gods gave them. The birds got mad and took away his feathers. He fell to the ground, and that is the reason why a tortoise shell is bumpy. I think this story was stupid. It had nothing to do with the rest of the book, and it just took up space. Later on, Chielo comes to Okonkwo's hut and demands that Ezinma come with her. Ezinma is still sick, but Ekwefi agrees because Chielo is the priestess of the Oracle. After Chielo and Ezinma leave, Ekwefi follows them to all of the other nine villages to make sure that Ezinma is safe. She is worried what Chielo will do to Ezinma. Ekwefi is almost caught when Chielo says that someone is following her. Ekwefi increases her following distance and follows them to a cave. Okonkwo shows up and startles Ekwefi. Ekwefi says that she will go into the cave if she hears Ezinma crying. Later Chielo comes out with Ezinma and brings her back to the hut safe and sound. I think that Chielo is crazy. She runs around screaming things in the night and randomly takes people. I think she drank too much wine over her liftime.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 9-10

In this chapter, Ezinma gets very sick. Okonkwo assures his wife that she is not dying, and he goes and gets her medicine. The book then discusses how unlucky Ekwefi was with having children. Before Ezinma, nine other of her children died when they were very young. Their culture believed that if the baby died, their spirit would come back into the mother's stomach. For this reason, dead babies were mutilated so that they wouldn't return. Ekwefi even began naming her children things like "Death, I emplore you" or "May it not happen again." I can see why she didn't believe that Ezinma was going to live. It would be so tramatic to lose a child, let alone nine. The chapter also talks about Ezinma's "iyi-uwa," which supposedly linked her to the after life. Because of all these things, Ekwefi constantly worries about her daughter. In chaper ten, there is a huge meeting where a sort of court case will be heard. The judges of the case wear masks so that no one will know who they are. The dispute is over an abusive husband. The bride's family wishes him to pay a higher price for her because he constantly beats her. The judges side with the family but cannot believe someone would come to them with such a trivial case. I do not understand why the case is so stupid to them. If someone was abusing their wife, they should be punished. Why does this culture support women abuse?

Things Fall Apart Chapter 8

Okonkwo continues to show emotion. After Ikemefuna's death, Okonkwo does into a depression. He cannot sleep or eat anything for days. Finally Ezinma brings him food and she tells him to eat the entire meal. He appreciates it and eats all of it. Okonkwo then visits his good friend Obierika. Obierika's daughter is in the middle of a marriage transaction. The groom must visit the home and brings lots of wine. They talk about palm wine tapping and about a white man that travels through the village. Then, they make a crude joke about a leper. It seems that this culture is obsessed with wine. That is all they talk about. I do not understnad why it is so important.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 7

This chapter was very surprising to me. I can not believe that Ikemefuna was killed. It seemed like he became apart of the family and that the village had forgot about the murder a couple years before. Before this occurred, a swarm of locusts came to the village. I could not believe that the village was so excited about it. I thought that locusts ate all of the crops. Surprisingly, the people collected and ate the locusts. Then some men came to Okonkwo's hut. Okonkwo was told that he did not have to participate in the killing, but he went along anyway. Ikemefuna was told that he was going home. On the way there, Ikemefuna was struck with a machete. Okonkwo joined in by cutting up his body. I think that he did this so that he would not look weak. Okonkwo is surprised about how much he misses Ikemefuna. I think that this shows that Okonkwo does have a heart somewhere deep inside.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 6

This chapter was very short. Okonkwo attended the wrestling matches with his family. They occur as expected, except for on warrior who flips his opponent in a matter of seconds. Okonkwo is very impressed with this because he was a great wrestler. While this is going on, Ekwefi talks with Chielo. Chielo is a priestess of the Oracle of the Hills. Chielo refers to Ezinma as her "daughter" and speaks highly of her. I think that this is very peculiar. Why would Chielo think that Ezinma was her daughter? She seems occupied with her.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 5

Just before the village will harvest the yams, there is a feast for the yams that will be gathered. Okonkwo thinks that this tradition is stupid and tries to ignore it. The only thing he likes about the feast are the wrestling matches held. One of his wives, Ekwefi, is beaten in this chapter for something stupid. After she is beaten, Ekwefi makes fun of Okonkwo for not being a good hunter. He shoots the gun at her but misses. Once Okonkwo returns, Ekwefi's only daughter Ezinma brings him dinner. I think that Ezinma is Okonkwo's favorite child. He favors her but does not show it a lot. He says that he wishes that she was a boy. The rest of the wives bring him his dinner, and he eats. I think that Okonkwo has a really bad temper and he needs to get over himself and treat his family with respect.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 4

In this chapter, Ikemefuna is placed in Okonkwo's home to live until his punishment is determined. Nwoye grows very fond of Ikemefuna and sees him as his big brother. Ikemefuna grows on Okonkwo, but he will not show it. He does not want to seem weak. I think Okonkwo does not want to show his fealings and end up like his father. Also in this chapter, there is a period called the Week of Peace. During this week, no one is to work or be harmed in any way. Okonkwo breaks this tradition by beating his wife for not cooking him dinner. He is forced to sacrifice a goat, a hen, some cloth, and money to the village. After the Week of Peace, Okonkwo and the rest of the village began plantings yams. Okonkwo becomes upset with Ikemefuna and Nwoye for not doing it right. He is trying to teach them a lesson. I think that it is weird that they had to sacrifice the strangest things.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 3

This chapter discusses how Okonkwo had a very rough childhood and that he had to work hard to where he got. It wrote about how lazy his father was. Hisw father went to see the Oracle to see why his crops would not grow. The priestess of the Oracle basically told him that it was his fault that his crops did not grow. He did not try as hard as the other people who lived in the village and that is why he could not grow anything. It also wrote about how Okonkwo's father died. His stomach started to swell and that was against the peoples' religion. Because of this, Unoka was not allowed to die in his own home. He had to be tied to a tree in the Evil Forest so that he would not come back to die. Okonkwo resesented him for this. It then went on about how Okonkwo worked his way to the top. He borrowed some yam seeds form a wealthy neighbor and tried to grow them. The harvest was horrible because it would rain like crazy, then there would be a drought. He still had a harvest of yams at the end because he saved some of the seeds. I thought that this chapter was kind of pointless. I really did not need to know how Unoka died.

Things Fall Apart Chapter 2

Okonkwo was laying in bed when he hears the town crier yelling about a town meeting in the morning. Okonkwo wonders what it could be about. He finds out that a girl from their village has been murdered by another village. The other village has a choice either to hand over a virgin and a young boy or to go to war. Okonkwo is privaleged enough to be the messenger to the nieghboring village. The village decides to send a girl and a boy instead of going to war. The boy's name is Ikemefuna. He ends up staying with Okonkwo and his family for three years. The chapter also talks about hwo strict Okonkwo is and how hard of a worker he is. He also beats his son because he thinks he is weak. Ikemefuna was very afraid and didn't know what was going to happen to him. It ends there. I wonder what is going to happen to Ikemefuna.

A Separate Piece Chapter 1

Chapter One was very short. It kind of just gave a background of the main character, Okonkwo. I think that Okonkwo hides his feelings and is seen as very harsh and strict. I also think that he has some issues with his father, Unoka, that died. He seems to be embarassed of how lazy his father was and how he lived. Okonkwo is trying to make up for the failure that his father was. He worked hard to get to the respectable position that he is at in the village. A boy named Ikemefuna is brought up. Who is he and why is he important?