An Ethical reasseessment of modern day salvery and systemic fallure in Mc Cormick's sold and Washington's up from Salvery

Abstract

This dissertation compares Patricia McCormick’s Sold and Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery, two works written a century apart, to examine the persistence of slavery in contemporary society. While Washington reflects on the historical oppression of African Americans and their struggle for freedom, McCormick’s novel narrates the harrowing experience of Lakshmi, a young girl trafficked into the sex trade. Although slavery is widely believed to have been abolished, Lakshmi’s story exposes how it continues to exist in hidden and systemic ways. Despite the existence of numerous laws prohibiting slavery, its persistence raises a critical question: why do such exploitative conditions endure worldwide? This dissertation argues that the root cause lies not in the absence of legal frameworks but in the failure of authorities who often prioritize personal interests over their duty. The systemic failure enables modern-day slavery to thrive. Overall, these texts calls for a collective response in which every individual, government, NGOs, and INGOs, prioritizes ethical responsibility over self-interest. Only through a coordinated and committed effort may slavery-like conditions be meaningfully addressed, if not entirely dismantled. Keywords: Modern-day Slavery, Systemic Failure, Slavery-like Situation, Contractualist-Deontology, Mass-Awareness.