A Young Girl Transformed

Blog #7

Jasmine has brought this class full circle. It truly was about one woman’s transformation.  Rather than trying to transform to forget who she was, such as in American Born Chinese, it was about her expanding who she was throughout her life.  She started as a village girl on a farm in India and when we left her, she was an almost wife of an Iowa farmer that was getting ready to start on another adventure.  Once she left India, her life seemed to be a continuous adventure.  While there were some tragic moments that she encountered, she always seemed to be able to move on and reinvent herself, but for the better.  Something that was most fascinating was the way in which her named changed throughout the book.  It was a reflection of who she was at the time.  She was always hoping and wanting more than what she had once she realized there was always more.  She transformed from Jyoti to Jasmine to Jase and ultimately to Jane.  She said “Jase was a woman who bought herself spangled heels and silk chartreuse pants” (Mukherjee, 176).  Each time her named changed, it was as if she was leaving a part of herself behind and creating a new future.  It was a way to leave the past in the past yet not forget.  She was able to remember where she came from yet she was not afraid to move forward.  “Jyoti was now a sati-godess; she had burned herself in a trash-can-funeral pyre behind a boarded-up motel in Florida.  Jasmine lived for the future, for Vijh & Wife.  Jase went to movies and lived for today” (Murkherjee, 176).  And Jane, Jane saw all of the possibilities.  She was all of these women in one; the caregiver, the mother, the wife, a girl, a woman in love, just a woman.  She was simple yet complex.  She was a walking contradiction and yet a fascination all at the same time. Live is an adventure and we all seek to find out who we are and try to determine what our purpose is.  For Jasmine, she believed once her purpose in life had been fulfilled then she would die.  Clearly her “mission” was not complete.  She was still seeking answers and trying to find her place in this world.  She had witnessed death, had suffered loss, had cheated death-on a number of occasions- and yet she continued on her journey; reinventing herself along the way. She believed she had “been many selves” and questioned “how many more shapes are in me, how many more selves, how many more husbands?” (Murkherjee, 215)  She tried to embrace what it means to be American yet she did not fully reject her India roots.  Part of this character was somewhat conflicted.  She was a woman who was torn.  She was “caught between the promise of America and old-world dutifulness” (Murkherjee, 240).  I think that Jasmine eventually finds out who she is and is able to find her purpose.  But she continued to be adventurous and search out new places.  For her, there was simply too much to see and do instead of settling or remaining idle in her life.  “Time will tell if I am a tornado, rubble-maker, arising from nowhere and disappearing into a cloud.  I am out the door and in the potholed and rutted driveway, greedy with wants and reckless with hope” (Murkherjee, 241).  She was not afraid to “re-position the stars” (240) and create her own destiny.

Photo: http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/worldlit/india/mukherjee.gif