America: Land of the?

            The American dream can be viewed and obtained in numerous ways.  So, what does it really mean to be an American?  There is not a universal answer to the question.  People of different cultures, backgrounds, and religions will all have their own interpretation of what it means to be an American.  Author Bharati Mukherjee’s shows in a very unique way what it means to be an American through the eyes of the protagonist of the novel, Jasmine.

            Jasmine encounters a lot of hardships and sorrow through out her experience in American. Her first day in the United State she gets raped, than she kills a man, then latter on her husband is shot, the drama never stops for Jasmine. During her journey she still seems to cling on to a few scraps of her life in India.  What Jasmine’s childhood astrologer tells her seems to really grind away at her during her whole life. For example on the first page it say, “an astrologer cupped his ears- his satellite dish to the stars- and foretold my widowhood and exile”(1).  Ironically both of the astrologer predictions are accurate.  Jasmine is widowed numerous times during the novel and she abandoned her home country.

            During the entire novel it is like she has the astrologer’s voice in the back of her head.  Toward the end of the novel you can see just how Jasmine deals with her prophecies and transforms her self into an American. “Adventure, risk, transformation: the frontier is pushing indoors through un-caulked windows.  Watch me re-position the stars, I whisper to the astrologer who floats cross-legged above my kitchen stove” (240).  Jasmine is now an American and has overcome her past demons.  She knows she can survive and has gained a stronger sense of self.  I felt Taylor was a character that was very important in opening Jasmine’s eyes to what it means to be an American.

            Taylor offers a lot of support to Jasmine.  He seemed to be the character in the novel that really understood Jasmine. I feel he is kind of mesmerized by her at the same time. When Jasmine is living with him in New York she says, “America may be fluid and built on flimsy, invisible lines of weak gravity, but I was a dense object, I had landed and was getting rooted” (179).  Jasmine says she is getting rooted in America and has meaning here.  I believe Taylor played a big role in helping her find a sense of self and meaning in America.  Jasmines journey has not been an easy one but I feel she has become a strong individual, an American. She seems to have a very optimistic view of America and there is no telling what the future will hold for her.