Short Story Review : An Internet Baby

     The illegal practice of child selling has become a common feature of the modern world. 'An Internet Baby', the short story written by Xiaolu Gou reveals the story of a young Chinese couple who decides to sell their baby on the internet. The two people, Weiming and Yuli, have their own arguments to justify their decision. Weiming is a 19-year-old man who is already working nearly 19 hours a day. So his motive  for selling their baby is money. If we take the case of Yuli, she is an 18-year-old girl. She has a dream to get her diploma and start a career in a big city. So they decides to sell the baby for 8,000 yuan. But a couple from Wenzhou show their willingness to buy the babyfor the double price 16,000 yuan.The funny thing is that no one gets the benefit of the child as the baby falls into the lake in the end of the story.

                    Here, the author seriously depicts the abuse of childhood. The young people don't think that what would be the condition of their baby if they sell him to others. For children, childhood is timeless. It is always present that matters for them. Children deserve the caring and love of their parents. It is the right of children to stat with their parents and it is the duty of the parents to look after their children. It is to be considered that they are also human beings and they too have the right to live in this world without fear or favour. Through selling the baby, his parents deny this right of the baby.

                     The major reason behind the child sale, according to the author is poverty and greed for money. Poverty is a big enemy to human happiness. it certainly destroys liberty and it makes some virtues impracticable. The misfortunes of poverty carry with them nothing harder to bear than that it makes man ridiculous. But the sale of the child is not the real solution to eradicate poverty. The resources of Earth are open to everyone. By utilizing them properly, one can lead a very comfortable life without the fear of poverty and hunger. as Tom Lehrer said : Life is like a sewer, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

                    Through this story, the author really ridicules the modern people who do not know the value of others life and gives importance only to their dreams and ambitions....

Rashida P