“And then, at Peter’s interment in the public graveyard, a woman he knew, and had introduced Eliza to as Mrs. Parks one time when they were taking a walk up Pacific Street, approached her and said, “Dear, if you find yourself in embarrassed circumstances, don’t hesitate to come to me. I think I can help you.” She pressed a bit of paper into Eliza’s hand, with her name and address written on it in ink. Simpleminded as she was, Eliza had gone to her two weeks later for a bit of a loan, and understood, when she stepped through the door of a rather large establishment with a nice veranda in the front, that the place was a house of prostitution.”
Mrs. Park's loan is not for a free token; she is inviting Eliza into prostitution. She sees Eliza as a potential asset in her brothel business because she is beautiful and widowed. The loan she gives her is bait intended to show her the money she can generate at the brothel. Eventually, Eliza falls for the bait and starts working as a prostitute. Eliza transitions from a widow to a prostitute very fast. On her first assignment as a sex worker, she likes the experience because it is more worthwhile than the experiences her husband gave her.
“All the girls in Mrs. Park’s establishment had pleasant names—Caroll, Breeze, Skey, Berry (Ann, Olive, Harriet, Amelia)—and all of them English, too, even the girl who spoke mostly Spanish.”
Eliza, too takes a different name after becoming a prostitute. The names enable the girls to have alter egos. Their lives as prostitutes are different from the lives they lead when they are working. Giving the girls English names is for branding purposes; they are portrayed as Englishwomen, although they may not have English roots. Moreover, the different names protect the girls' privacy because prostitution is not considered a reputable business.
“That very first morning, Eliza had walked away with an entire dollar, a gold coin, which the fellow had given her. She handed it to her own landlady, who looking at the coin, knew better than to ask where Eliza had gotten it. That was another way in which Monterey was agreeable—no one pried, no one asked unpleasant questions.”
The landlady suspects that Eliza may have traded sex in exchange for the gold coin, but she does not judge for it. For the first time, Eliza has earned money that she uses to pay for her rent. Her husband's death grants her the freedom to work, although her work is not prestigious and may be frowned upon by Christians. Smiley adds that the number of Churches in Monterey is small, which means that people there are not utterly religious. Therefore, prostitutes can engage in prostitution without worrying about being condemned and criticized for engaging in "sin."
