Exile or Immigrant?

What does it mean to be American?  It all depends on whom you ask. There isn’t a right or wrong answer, just opinions.  It’s a different experience for everyone. For me being an American means I have choices I might not have anywhere else in the world. For Jasmine the main character in Bharati Mukherjee’s novel, being American means a chance for re-invention, liberation, and possibly empowerment. For Bud, Jasmine’s husband it’s being “blessed, healthy, innocent, in love.” (Jasmine, P 228) Bharati Mukherjee the author of Jasmine, being American meant choosing her own husband and “putting roots down, to vote and make a difference. The price that the immigrant willingly pays, and that the exile avoids, is the trauma of self-transformation.” (Two Ways to Belong in America) Is Jasmine an Exile or Immigrant? Is her self re-invention empowering?  

In the novel the author shows the reader that America is not what you expect, but it does change you and forces you to grow, therefore become empowered. Does that still make you and American? Or can one still be the exile. A good comparison of the Exile and Immigrant would be Jasmine and her adopted son Du. While Jasmine fulfills most of the basic generic immigrant criteria, i.e. changing her name, dress, etc.  Du however is going through the motions only to get by. He’s good at survival and that’s what he’s doing. It manifests itself in his shrines, the search for something old to hold on to. He refuses to give up being Vietnamese, he considers himself to be hyphenated. Jasmine describes Du as being a hybrid “his high school paper did a story on him titled: Du (yogi) Ripplemeyer, a Vietnamese - American.” (Jasmine, P 222)  Jasmine however is not hyphenated, she’s not holding on.

Perhaps the reason for Jasmine's embrace of America is due to her different experiences and the people she meets along the way.  She’s seen what happens if you refuse to change, and felt suffocated by it. Through Bud and Mrs. Ripplemeyer Jasmine feels she must forget about her past in India. “He’s uneasy with tales of Hasnapur, Just like Mother Ripplemeyer. It’s as though Hasnapur is an old husband or lover. Even memories are a sign of disloyalty.” (Jasmine, P 231) She keeps herself in check, the only thing she holds onto is Indian style cooking.  Karin, Buds ex wife constantly reminds Jasmine that she’s different, not the Baden, Iowa kind. Karin believes Jasmine is a gold digger and a tornado that ruins everything.  Could Karin’s criticism motivate Jasmine to become less and less Indian and more American. While the previously mentioned three seem to want to erase Jasmine in one-way or another, there are those who feel differently.  Darrell and Taylor are two characters that I think help empower Jasmine. Taylor and Darrell both show interest in her differences and embrace them. Taylor challenges her to see things from a different perspective and expect more for herself. Darrell reminds her that she’s still young and it’s okay to have dreams. 

With all of these different influences and experiences mixed together Jasmine becomes an American. She finds a freedom of self, choice, and the ability to pursue her dreams. The end of the novel is bittersweet. Jasmine’s choice is a symbol of her growth but also shows that becoming this new person has changed her in a way that’s not completely positive. Her decision is selfish “greedy with wants and reckless from hope.” (Jasmine, 241)  What is empowerment without conscience?  Will she sustain herself on these new principles? Sometimes desire blinds us from the facts, and I worry that Jasmine will keep running.  Becoming an American gave her a new strength but ironically she’s made herself an exile.