Chitra Divakaruni Live Free And Starve Summary

“Live Free and Starve” (p. 290) is an essay written by Chitra Divakaruni describing what would happen if child labor laws were passed here in America. She intends to explain to the reader – the American voter – that by passing the child labor law they think it would free the children from the shackles of unruly business owners of third world countries. The purpose of the essay is to describe what is happening to children who are working in factories across third world countries when child labor laws were passed in the House. Divakaruni does so by using pathos, logos and ethos which are supported by vivid description, repetition, and anecdote. In her essay, Divakaruni talks about how the passing of a child labor law in the United States which prohibits the import of goods from factories that uses child labor would affect the children’s livelihood. Even though most people would think that the passing of the bill is a step forward for children’s rights, Divakaruni asserts that it is actually doing more harm than good. She depicts the children working in

The use of repetition is vital in the essay because it enables the reader to view the child labor situation in a different perspective other than their frame of reference, such as that children should have no worries and be free. The use of repetition can be seen in the last paragraph where she poses a string of questions to the reader – “But where are the schools in which they are to be educated? Where is the money to buy them food and clothing and medication so that they don’t return home to become the extra weight that capsizes the already shaky raft of their family’s finances?” (p. 292). Divakaruni also chose to end her essay with a repetition of questions. This repetition gets the reader to ask themselves and answer them with respect to their own logical reasoning thus the appeal to the readers’