Active Destiny

    With so many cultures and lifestyles converging into one identity, America, has been deemed a land of “opportunity.”  However, a wealthy middle aged woman from southern California might have a different perspective compared to a struggling patriarch of a family of four who has recently relocated to America.  The sense of opportunity stems from an underlying fierce competition.  Whether it is earning enough money to feed your family, or obtaining the best spray tan on the block, competition is the fire that creates the draw to reinvent and change yourself for the better.  In Bharati Mukherjee’s novel Jasmine, a woman from Hasnapur, India finds a new identity when moving to America.  She struggles with the interaction between how she is perceived and who she wishes to represent.  She actively attempts to erase her past cultural identity and rise as an epitome of American values.
    From the time she was a child, Jane strongly followed where she wanted her life to go and fought against any threat that encroached on her freedom of choice.  When an astrologer tells Jane she will be destined for a future of widowhood and isolation, she exclaims “No!” and declares that he “is a crazy old man and does not know what her future holds.” (3, Mukherjee)  As children, we are taught time and time again to be respectful to adults and address them in a polite manner.  Jane not only insults the man, she defies his prediction of her future.  Jane actively defends her right to chose where her life leads and does not accept any part of the prescribed desolate existence the astrologer has set forth.  She reinforces her passion for choice by stating “I didn’t feel I was nothing.” (4, Mukherjee)  Even at a young age, she feels a sense of significance and does nt disregard her life as a spoiled commodity because of her gender, social class, or age.
    Her childhood defiance carries on into her young adult years as she progresses in the educational system in India.  She faces pressure from teachers to stay in school and go on to a higher level of education, while her family wants her to marry and become fade into a traditional role in society instead of going against the flow.  When her father pressures her to decide between marriage and going into banking, Jane says “I wan to be a doctor and set up my own clinic in a big town.”…”My father gasped,  “The girl is mad!” (51, Mukherjee)  Jane denies both opportunities offered to her, she insists on doing what she feels she is meant to do.  She actively sets forth her fate by not only defying her father’s wishes, but denying the fact that she cannot rise above the occupation of banking because of her gender.  Jane preserves the determined and free spirit she exhibited as a child and continues to follow her heart.
    After Jane relocates to America, she is faced with the ongoing struggle between her past identity in India and her present identity in America.  She explains that “there are no harmless, compassionate ways to remake oneself.  We murder who we were so we can rebirth ourselves in the images of dreams.” (29, Mukherjee)  This vivid statement demonstrates Jane’s fierce determination in her destiny.  If she were to passively accept her fate, she would have died a lonely widow in India all the while wondering how had she ended up there.  She “murdered” her previous life to create a new one.  This statement alone shows her bravery and self-ruling nature that enables her to chase after what she wants. 
    Throughout the novel, Jane contradicts others and goes against social normality.  She actively pursues her aspirations with a quiet confidence that could be misinterpreted as a passive force.  Jane does not come across as a passive person due to the fierce nature she defends her freedom of choice.