As Jasmine enters the country in which she expects
to perform her culture rituals, she is met by an America that is not the land
she has heard of. Americans view themselves, “as the embodiments of liberty,
openness, and individualism” yet that is not the America that Jasmine arrives
to (Mukherjee 32). When her husband, Prakash, talked of America he talked of
opportunity and wealth. The aerogram in which he brought home about America to
show Jasmine read, “TRAVEL…THE PERFECT FREEDOM” (Mukherjee 83). But when Jasmine
arrives she is faced with discrimination and a culture in which she cannot
relate. Unlike India, Jasmine sees Americans as dirty and full of greed. The
women of America are not modest like the women in India but rather the American
women openly display their sexuality for all to see. Jasmine states that the
women of New York have, “no concept of shame” (Mukherjee 171). This contrasts
the role for women that she has been taught. Jasmine cannot relate to the way
in which these women act. She recognizes that because of the culture she was
raised in, she would rather die than reveal the personal side of her (Mukherjee
170). Despite the contrasts of cultures, especially America’s, “flimsy
invisible lines of weak gravity”, Jasmine relies on her culture to discover who
she is in a land that is foreign.
The ways in which Jasmine discovers who she is is by the contrasting ideas in America about motherhood, wifely responsibilities, and self-reliance. As she observes the American way of life, she resorts back to her cultural customs and compares the two cultures. For example, motherhood. While Jasmine was growing up, their family was a tight-nit circle. Their mother raised them, their father provided for them, her brothers looked out for her, and they taught each other how to live. Their mother was concerned for their well-being and finding a husband. The American family that Jasmine lives with and observes first hand is in New York with Taylor, Wylie and their daughter Duff. This family is very different from what Jasmine is used to. They hire an outsider to watch after their daughter. Wylie, the mother, works outside of the home. Ultimately, the Wylie leaves her husband, Taylor, which is something that would not happen in Indian culture. As Jasmine tries to sort our this American family, she returns to what she knows. First of all, Jasmine's maternal instincts immediately take charge. She refers back to her Hindu upbringing of familial closeness. She states that she could, "not imagine a small child sleeping alone" (Mukherjee 172). This difference in culture shapes the way in which Jasmine views motherhood. She sees the difference between the cultures and prefers to mother a child the way she was raised. Ultimately, Jasmine decides to stay with Duff in her room, keeping with her cultural traditions.
Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine. New York:
Grove, 1989. Print.
Mukherjee, Bharati. "Beyond Multiculturalism: Surviving the Nineties." Journal for Modern Literature 20.1 (1996): 29-34. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 01 May 2012.
The Hindu culture has
defined guidelines, which they expect their women to follow, adhere to, and
obey. These guidelines are made in order to protect the women from people,
circumstances, or knowledge that the Hindu men believe the women should stay
away from. Throughout the novel, Indian men take charge of situations, provide
for the family, protect their families, and even die for their families. Though
the Hindu society is patriarchal in nature, it is done so in a way that makes
the men of the society believe their role is protecting the women of the
community. These ideas of men and women in society are completely altered once
Jasmine comes to America. American women are immodest and greedy. American
women do not look to their husbands for protection, but rather as an equal, a
friend, a companion. Learning the ways of this new culture, Jasmine must rely
on her own culture to understand and cope with the American culture.
The
culture in which Jasmine has grown up in, specifically the Indian culture, has
certain expectations that they put upon her as a woman in her community. Susan
Wadley, a professor of Anthropology, has researched the Indian culture. Her
article, “Women in the Hindu Tradition”, outlines the expectations of women in
the Indian community. Wadley states that women in the Hindu tradition are faced
with a type of duality in which women are held up to either one of two role
models. She states, “on one hand, she is fertile, benevolent-the bestower; on
the other, she is aggressive, malevolent-the destroyer” (Wadley 113).
These
views of women are taken from the Hindu religion which is the predominant
religion practiced in India. These two role models for Indian women are based
upon examples of Hindu goddesses. These two goddesses are Laksmi
and Mariyamman. Laksmi is the Hindu goddess who is, “the embodiment of female
virtue” (Hinduism Gender and Sexuality 1). This goddess is the woman who Indian
women should inspire to be like. Laksmi depicts the way in which women should
rule the home, for example, Laksmi is a “subservient wife”, the “model mother”,
and “the bringer of prosperity” (Hinduism Gender and Sexuality 1). While the
goddess Mariyamma embodies, “both death and life, destroyer and bestower”
(Wadley 113). This goddess is whom the Hindu society use as an example of what
the women in the Hindu culture should aspire not to be like. Mariyamman conveys
images of a woman who is out of control. She does not better society, but
rather is a detriment to society.
This section of my paper is going to be contrasted with American society in order to show how Jasmine's identity is based primarily on her Hindu background.
Kinnard, Jacob. "Library." Hinduism Gender and Sexuality.
Patheos.com, 2008-2012. Web. 03 May 2012
Wadley, Susan S. "Women and the Hindu
Tradition." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 3.1
(1977): 113-125. Print.
