A comparative analysis of the characters of Sumita and Jyoti in the short stories "Clothes" by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni and the novel "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee.
Abstract This paper examines the short story "Clothes", by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni and the novel "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee. It discusses the choices Sumita and Jyoti/Jasmine make after moving from India to the US for their husbands and the changes in their lives that this entails.
From the Paper "In the short story "Clothes" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and the novel "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee, two separate Punjabi women must learn how to adapt to their adopted country the United States. Although both are fairly traditional young brides..."
Abstract The paper explores four books which are linked by the trauma of the women characters - "The Bluest Eyes" (Toni Morrison), "Jasmine", (Bharati Mukherjee) "Bastard Out of Carolina" (Dorothy Allison), and "White Oleander" (Janet Fitch). The paper shows how each book involves the story of a young woman who suffered abuse through no fault of her own and that although they take place at different times, different locations and to different types of young women, they are linked. The author touches on the thread of abuse towards women in real life.
From the Paper "As a young girl she shows her strength when she saves the village women from a wild dog. Throughout her life in India, Jasmine, a young Punjab girl undergoes a series of changes. She is the embodiment of the fatalistic beliefs of the Hindu religion as she goes through cycles that allow her to become a mature woman in a new country, America. The story is told from the perspective that young woman in America as she recalls the life she lead in India, and how she came to America. Behind her is the oppression of females. Ahead of her is hope for a better life. In her is the clash of beliefs from the fatalistic Hindu, to the optimistic American. Along the way her name is changed several times until she winds up with the non-ethnic Jane, instead of Jasmine."
Abstract The paper discusses how the book "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee investigates Jasmine's different names and identity shifts as the environment changes around her. The paper discusses the use of imagery and the book's intricate story-line.
From the Paper "At the start of the novel, the audience meets Jane, a twenty-four year old woman, pregnant and living on an Iowa farm with an adopted son, Du. Mukherjee shows Jasmine's character loving farm life, "The farmers around here are like the farmers I grew up with" (11). Jane draws parallels between her life in Punjab to life in Iowa. To Jane, Iowa is a place of farmland, which she can relate back to her life in Punjab. Iowa to her is a closed off white society, unlike New York which is full of different ethnicity. The book, so far, is straightforward. Mukherjee introduces the protagonist to us as Jane in a very organized text, but she changes gears without any hint to the reader, and the next chapter just jumps straight back to the protagonist's childhood."
Abstract This paper will discuss the nature of the older man and the younger woman relationships in the book "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, and the book "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee By revealing the text of the Bronte book, as well as the Jasmine book we can find the trouble that Jane comes into when dealing with Rochester, the main male figure who is represented in the tale. By realizing how men react when wounded, we can get a sense of how both authors uses the advanced age men in Jane Eyre, and, as well, in the Jasmine book, we can how Jasmine is used by older men, but in a much more cruel way.
Abstract This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes Bharati Mukherjee's essay, "Two Ways to Belong in America." Specifically, it discusses the position that immigrants who legally come to this country should become citizens of this country because they have enjoyed all the benefits the country has to offer, and they should be loyal to the country that has given them success and a new life.
From the Paper "Many critics believe the biggest problem with immigration and citizenship is not that so many immigrants choose not to become citizens, but that the country actually encourages immigrants not to assimilate. One critic writes, "Nor would it get at a related and even deeper problem, which is not that there are too many immigrants, but that those who apply, and those who come, are not required, or even asked, to assimilate" (Salins). America makes it very easy for people to immigrate here. We have always welcome and encouraged people from other countries to make their home here, and immigration law reforms in the twentieth century encouraged more people to move to America. Immigrants find that their children can be educated in their native languages, and even voting material and McDonald's menus are available in several languages. Immigrants find that they can live in segregated communities of their countrymen, speak their own language for the most part, and still find good jobs and get a good education. These social conveniences do not encourage assimilation or citizenship, and so, many immigrants feel no need to become citizens - why should they? Their lives are better, but they still live largely as they did at home."
Abstract This paper examines identity in the novel, "Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee." The paper describes the young protagonist Jyoti, whose own eventual journey into the vast and strange world beyond her village serves as a metaphor for the ever-moving, regenerating process of life itself. The paper discusses how, as she struggles to discover her true identity on her journey through life, Jyoti experiences a series of transformations.
From the Paper "Jasmine: An Analysis of Gender, Culture, and Agency In Bharati Mukherjee's novel, Jasmine, the inhabitants of the fictional Punjab village of Hasnapur long to escape their poverty and find better lives overseas. Their talk of distant lands fascinates the young protagonist Jyoti, whose own eventual journey into the vast and strange world beyond her village serves as a metaphor for the ever-moving, regenerating process of life itself. As she struggles to discover her true identity on her journey through life, Jyoti experiences a series of transformations. In her village, Jyoti was considered beautiful and clever, but her life was dominated and controlled by her father and brothers, who shared the prevailing cultural opinion that, "village girls are like cattle, whichever way you lead them, that is the way they will go." (Mukherjee 46)"
A comparative analysis of the themes of immigration and integration in "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee and "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros.
Abstract This paper examines the works, "Jasmine" by Bharati Mukherjee and "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros. In particular, it looks at ow the characters of Jasmine and Esperanza, from two very different cultures, experience America through relationships, with other characters and, in turn, initially use those relationships to help them guide and create their own character. The paper also discusses how each of these immigrant works by immigrant women represents a chapter in the life of a woman assimilating and recognizing the changes that have to be made in order for her to find her internal peace.
From the Paper "Jasmine is separate even from the only person in her life that has any real idea of what it is like to live in limbo, in poverty and with only vague hopes of changing the situation. One issue that repeatedly intertwines itself into the character of Jasmine and the other characters she is surrounded by in Iowa is racism. Though during her interactions with people in New York and Florida some of these issues are lessoned, as characters like Taylor acknowledge and discuss her ethnicity and ask her questions about her home and life experiences, which is evident in comparison and dialogue. (6, 12) The constant forgivable blunders when Mother uses the word Indian to describe native Americans and then must qualify it, with "our kind" (17) and the interesting way that the white Iowans react to immigrant farm workers from Mexico. "
Abstract This paper analyzes Bharati Mukherjee's short story "A Father". The paper points out firstly that the use of 'a,' which implies a kind of arbitrary selection of a father, is appropriate given that the story is a narrative of unwed pregnancy by artificial insemination. The paper argues that the tale's title stresses the story's theme about the lies of patriarchal authority and male dominance. The paper concludes that the story shows how truly useless 'a father' is to a mother and daughter.
From the Paper "Besides the theme of a culture clash, the story deals with parental conflicts bubbling beneath the surface as well as the shifting cultural values that occur when a family comes in contact with the west. Despite his idealization of a patriarchal way of life, where the man is the head of the family, Mr. Bhowmick does not reign supreme over his own family unit. His wife insisted that the family move to the United States. Mr. Bhowmick did not want to move. Mr. Bhowmick blames this for his daughter's unmarried, unwed, and unattractive plight, but the fact that it was his wife's decision to come to America indicates that the family never had a male reigning supreme over the children and the woman of the household, in contrast to Mr. Bhowmick's idealized vision of Indian family life."
Tags: artificial, insemination, single-parent, family, India, immigrant, America
Abstract The paper analyzes how Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets" and Bharati Mukherjee's "The Management of Grief" both explore the problems of cultural identity in the context of multiculturalism. The paper conveys the confusion and identity loss of people who come from mixed cultural backgrounds.
From the Paper "Both Amy Tan's A Pair of Tickets and Bharati Mukherjee's The Management of Grief revolve around questions of identity in the context of multiculturalism. The main characters in both of the stories are middle-aged women who come from culturally mixed backgrounds and are thus utterly confused about their own identity. Not accidentally, the two women, a Chinese-American and an Indian- Canadian, are surprised by their authors in crucial, turning points in their lives: Jing-Mei flies for the first time to her parent's country, China where she meets, also for the first time her twin half-sisters and Shaila Bhave flies to India after having lost her husband and her young sons in a terrible plane crash."
Abstract This paper discusses Bharati Mukiherjee's story, "The Father" and how it portrays a culture clash between two related Indians, a father and daughter. The paper relates that both characters in the story have two very different ethical standards about procreation and the meaning of fatherhood and that the cultural clash between the father and daughter exists on several levels - generational, gender-based, ethical, and personal.
From the Paper "Babli's father comes from a culture that is a patriarchal culture in terms of its explicitly stated values, for, as Mr. Bhowmick sees it, male authority and wisdom should rule the household. Now the father's daughter will raise her child in a household with no male presence. Of course, this sense of patriarchal dominance is fictional to some degree. Mr. Bhowmick came to the U.S. from Ranchi because his wife, a professional in her own right insisted upon this move. But he still believes the pretence of male dominance should be protected in principle. In fact, because he feels forced to stay in the U.S. due to his wife, seeing his daughter flagrantly deny her need for a man even to father a child, makes him feel more powerless in the face of women in America. According to anthropologist Lalervo Oberg, culture shock arises when suddenly one's sense of certainty is destroyed when one enters a foreign environment. A person undergoing culture shock experiences it as a series of "upsets--breaks in reality because people behave differently" in a new culture and because the shocked individual finds him or herself in unfamiliar circumstances."
An examination of the theme of identity in exile in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", Bharati Mukherjee's "Jasmine" and Maxine Kingston's "China Men".
Abstract The paper examines John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", Bharati Mukherjee's "Jasmine" and Maxine Kingston's "China Men", which each focus on the molding of individual identity in the flux of history. The paper shows how the three books use a narrative of migration and exploration of new territories to represent the way in which individual identity is shaped by history.
From the Paper "Over the course of history, migration and colonization have brought different cultures and ethnicities in close contact with each other. This contact has influenced the shaping and definition of individual and collective identity at the same time. Many modern and postmodern narratives thus discuss the relationship between individual identity and collective identity and between the personal or autobiographical facts and the historical facts. These narratives often challenge the claims made by official and objective histories, pointing to the great number of stories that can actually be derived from what is usually called 'the objective reality'. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine and Maxine Kingston's China Men are three major, representative novels that focus on the molding of individual identity in the flux of history."
Tags: migration, colonization, cultures, ethnicities, history
Abstract The paper examines the short story "The Management of Grief," by Bharati Mukerjee", and how it addresses the cultural conflicts within the Indian community in Canada through three female characters. The paper first looks at Pam who has no interest in her Indian heritage and attempts to escape it, and contrasts this attitude to that of her mother, Kusum, who cannot function properly in Canadian society without the support of her family. The paper then focuses on the narrator who is a mixture of these two extremes by being a more progressive Indian woman.
From the Paper "Pam is a young Indian woman who was most likely born in Canada. Over the course of this story, she is shown to reject her Indian heritage and desires to fit into Canadian society. While many of the Indian women in this story do not work and simply rely on the men in their lives to provide for them, Pam has a job of her own and decided that she would rather work all summer than spend any time in India with the rest of her family as, "She was going to spend July and August with grandparents because Pam wouldn't go. Pam said she'd rather waitress at McDonald's. 'If it's a choice between Bombay and Wonderland, I'm picking Wonderland,' she'd said" (Mukerjee 950). She has constant battles with her mother over her lack of "Indian-ness" because she seems content to dismiss the entire culture, while only worrying about how she is perceived by the rest of society."
Abstract This paper summarizes and reviews Bharati Mukherjee's novel, "Jasmine" and looks the novel is about a young Punjabi woman who comes to America in search of a new life and identity. The paper demonstrates how the process that Jasmine goes through to attain her own identity is symbolized in many ways throughout the book. The paper then shows how Jasmine does eventually achieve an identity for herself when she is transformed into an American woman.
From the Paper "In her book Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee tells the story of a young Punjabi woman who comes to America in search of a new life. Throughout the course of the novel, Mukherjee seems to be suggesting that the title character is really in search of a new identity. The story is told through the voice of the protagonist herself as a pregnant woman in her mid-twenties trying to deal with the complications of living on a small farm in Iowa at a time when small farms were failing all over the place. However, the story of Jasmine is really the story of all of us. Like Jasmine, we all have to grow up and find out who we are, no matter what our circumstances are."
Abstract The paper explicates the ways in which the female protagonists of "A Rose for Emily" (William Faulkner), "Hindus" (Bharati Mukherjeeand) and "Astronomer's Wife" (Kay Boyle) overcome the stereotypes that society cast on them and the effect it had on them. The author of the paper concludes that the female characters of the above mentioned stories are the direct opposite of the women of their own times.
From the Paper "According to some sources she was a strong, willful woman who after her father's death had completely retreated into her past. What's worth mentioning here is that she was happy being there i.e. in the past. Emily was clearly suffering from denial - she was unable to come to terms with her father's death and then Colonel Sartoris' passing away and so she continued to harbor the illusion that they were still there for her (especially Colonel Sartoris). She refused to let anyone threaten her imaginary world and so remained adamant about taxes when the new Board of Alderman approached her."
Abstract This paper compares the main theme in Walker's and Mukherjee's works. It explains that these two works are an expression of America's diverse culture and identity and of old versus modern. The paper offers quotes to qualify points made.
From the Paper "The culmination of the work, through its characterization and rural poor setting is that the two sides never meet in the middle, both rejecting the other and all the while it is unclear what the lover thinks. Asalamalakim's point of view is mostly absent from the work, as an expression of the mother's inability to understand him in the midst of this family conflict he is lost. Asalamalakim is a dark ignorable shadow in the background that could be seen as a symbol of the dichotomy between where Dee came from and where she is now."
