Hello, World.
In Jasmine, a book by Bharati Mukherjee, the main character is an Indian woman whose transition from India to America leads to a clash of cultures where she experiences ignorance, judgment, and an identity-crisis. As we discussed in class, Jasmine undergoes a hero's journey whose individual stages are categorized by her extensive variety of names: Jyoti (in India), Jasmine (as she arrives to America), Jase (a Taylor-specific name for her in New York), and Jane (in Iowa, with Bud). In this blog sequence, I will discuss the many stages of her life represented by her collection of names, as well as the clay pitcher metaphor, the stereotypes and ignorance she faces, and the clothes motif throughout the novel.
As Jasmine moves away from India to America, the different stages of her travels are so unique and important that a new identity is attributed to her every time. In her home town in India, she is known as Joyti and, as she moves away, she solidifies her departure by changing her name to an American one: Jasmine. Once she moves to New York and falls in love with Taylor, he identifies her with an endearing 'Jase' and Jane, her final name, is given to her by Bud, her partner in Iowa. Her many names categorise the many moments of her incredible odyssey across America. Mukherjee describes how every time that Jasmine adopts a new identity, she is metaphorically "reborn," (163). In a luncheon, she says "I am sure that I have been reborn several times, and that yes, some lives I can recall vividly" which acknowledges her many identities but also tells us, since her memories are so vivid, that each stage of her life is filled with so many dramatic moments that they couldn't possibly all belong to the same victim (126). Each stage of her life ends with a drastic event (such as her husband's death, a rape incident, the sight of her husband's murderer in NY, and her neighbour's suicide).
Evidently, this results in a lack of identity because it has become impossible to identify Jasmine as one person. The author's writing makes this clear when she describes Jasmine seeing "ghosts float towards [her]. Jane, Jasmine, Jyoti," (21). Understandably, she doesn't know who she is, for example, when she says “In Baden, I am Jane. Almost,” (26). The transitions between life-stages are so drastic and abrupt that they lead to multiple-personalities.
Finally, one must notice that only one of her names was used as the book's title: Jasmine. We discussed in class how the hero's journey, developed by Joseph Campbell, applies to Jasmine. I stated that this cycle does occur in the novel but only starts from her arrival to America, when she meets Taylor (because Taylor is her final result); by then, her name is Jasmine. I believe that Mukherjee uses Jasmine for the title not only because it represents the biggest stage of her life (her departure from India), but also because it marks the beginning of her journey in America. As Jyoti 'dies' and is reborn as Jasmine, she begins her adventure in America to find the love and happiness that her life in India didn't give her.
In my next blog post, I will discuss the clay pitcher metaphor, the stereotypes she becomes victim to, and the motif of clothing throughout the novel to further analyse the culture clash represented by Jasmine's journey.
Goodnight, World.
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