Jasmine is an interesting book to read. It is the adventure of the main female character of the story. I think this book is relevant in that it ties everything we have learned for the past six weeks into one complete story. Previously, we learned about the hardships of the immigrants in the US. Those hardships were what they had to face when they came to America. However, we did not learn much about why they chose to come to America or what happened to them afterward. The story of Jasmine is a complete chronological order of the life of the main character.
One thing I found interesting is that the main character has so many names. Her names are Jyoti, Jasmine, Jase, and Jane. What important about this is that she is a different person with each different name she has. The name Jyoti and Jasmine were her names while she was in her homeland, India. Jase and Jane were her American names. There is much to say about her character. However, I think I will talk about the pattern which happens a lot in this story. That pattern is the fact that almost all her loved ones either died or left.
This must has something to do with the fact that when she was seven years old, an old fortune teller “foretold … widowhood and exile” of the character. (Mukherjee 3) Although that seems to be so superstitious, things did happen as they were foretold. Her dismay actually did not only come from the fact that she became a widow at the age of seventeen but also because she really lost all the important men in her life.
The first victim on her list was her father; he “was gored by a bull.” (Mukherjee 58) She was Jyoti at the time. She did not have anything to do with her father’s death. At this point, I did not see a pattern yet. It was unfortunate because her father really cared for her.
The second victim was her husband, Prakash. This was also her first transformation. She changed her name to Jasmine. Prakash’s death, perhaps, impacted Jasmine’s life the most among all her lovers. For the first time, she was taught to stand up for herself. For the first time, she was given hope about a brighter future. For the first time, she heard about America. Prakash transformed Jasmine completely. But then “the sidewalk surges, men scream.” (Murherjee 93) Prakash died to the bomb planted by the “Lions”. Jasmine blamed herself for everything this time, and the foretold was true.
I thought her dismay would stop there but following her husband’s step was Masterji, her professor. Lilian Gordon who sheltered her was also imprisoned later. Du, who was her Vietnamese adopted son, left her after he found his sister in California. Bud, her 50-year old lover, was immobilized by gun shots. Half-faced, however, was an exception. He was not Jasmine’s loved one. But he died nevertheless, by her hands. It is interesting to see how many people who interacted with her suffered, and also brought suffering to Jasmine.
I just really wonder about Taylor. He is Jase’s (Jasmine’s American name) lover. Will he be able to survive? We do not know the result. Everything that happened in this book is coincidental and mysterious. I would like to read about what happened later to Jasmine but the book ended early. In any case, this book is a great book to read.
