Summary Of Live Free And Starve By Chitra Divakaruni

The issue of child labor has long been a subject of discussion that -------. In her cogent essay, “Live Free and Starve,” directed at liberals and those in support of a bill passed by the U.S. congress that bans the import of goods from countries that have child labor, Chitra Divakaruni reasons on the subject of child labor in developing countries. In a persuasive tone, Divakaruni contends that the aforementioned bill is misguided in its intent. She argues that while the intentions behind the bill are good-willed, the bill would not be effective in its goal of helping the children. Divakaruni offers a unique perspective on child labor in foreign countries to increase awareness on how there is more to the situation of child labor than meets the eye.
Divakaruni begins by immediately referencing a congressional bill passed by the United States House of Representatives that “stated that the United States would no longer permit the import of goods from factories where forced or indentured child

She relays a personal story about Nimai, a young boy whose parents brought him to work for and live with Divakaruni and her family, as they could not provide for him themselves. Although Divakaruni agrees that “it was hardly a desirable existence for a child” (450), she poses the question: “What would life have been like for Nimai if an anti-child labor law had prohibited [her] mother from hiring him?” (450). This questions allow readers to ponder how Nimai would not have been fed and clothed and been looked after as hed had if there was a law against this. In essence, the anecdote allows for readers to have a better insight into the situations children can be stuck in and better understand the point Divakaruni is making. In this way, she demonstrates how, if left without jobs, children in these positions, such as Nimai, will, as the title suggests, “live free and