A Jasmine by Any Other Name...

    What is in a name? Does it define us? Is there something about me that is innately "Chris"? What if I had grown up with a name like Harold? Would that have any effect on the person I am today?

No.

Well, maybe...

I don't think names are a definition, I think they are more of a label; a quick way to bring to mind the sum total of years and years of experiences. If a name were a definition, then Chris would have to be universally accepted to mean "Tall hairy musician who likes beer and doesn't much care for cake; pie is good though."

    In Bharati Mukherjee's book "Jasmine" names are used as labels too. Each name represents an aspect of the same person. For example: Jasmine grew up in an Indian village, where her name was Jyoti. Throughout the rest of the novel, Jyoti reappears whenever Jasmine's feudal past is brought up. Jyoti is the side of Jasmine that is purely Indian. Jyoti is transformed by her husband Prakash into Jasmine. This name is more modern and represents Prakash's influence on her. Prakash does not follow all the Indian traditions saying "There is no room in modern India for Feudalism." Jasmine is the girl "suspended between worlds", a world of feudalism and obedience vs. a world of freedom and opportunity.

    On the other end of the spectrum, and the world, is Kali. Kali is Jasmine as a refugee, who gets raped, commits murder and generally has a horrible time getting to America. For me, Kali is the link in the chain between Indian Jasmine and American Jasmine. Kali represents the middle of the bridge, where she isn't Indian and she isn't American, just a faceless refugee. This is why the name Kali diverges from the pattern of names: Jyoti, Jasmine, Jazzy, Jase. Kali is a completely different identity.

    After Kali comes Jazzy, a blossoming American, who travels from Florida to New York. In New York she lives with an Indian family deeply steeped in traditions. Here is where we first realize the split in identity between Jasmine and Jazzy. She doesn't want India anymore and is suffocated by tradition. She moves in with a professor and his wife as a caregiver. It is here where she nears the peak of her American transformation and assumes the name Jase. Her happiness is cut short by a sighting of her husband's murderer which causes her to flee to Iowa. In Iowa she comes to the pinnacle of American-ness as Jane. Jane is the “wife” of a banker, now completely americanized.

    It is easy to see the transformation as it is laid out on the table. Each of these names represents a specific identity for Jasmine. Through it all however, there is an undercurrent running through the story. This undercurrent is what is fundamentally Jasmine, just like “hairy musician with a fondness for pie” is fundamentally “Chris”. Names don't change who we are fundamentally, they act, in Jasmine's case, merely as markers. Different hats to be worn and removed as attitudes change and events affect her life.

    Perhaps names are more like masks instead of hats. They act as an outward sign that, like the cover of a book, tells you whats going to be inside (Oh, by the way, that saying “Don't judge a book by its cover is complete baloney. Thats WHY they put stuff about the book on the cover, so you can judge it. You don't have a book about whales with a picture of a leaf on the cover. People would buy it and get pissed off. So, DO judge a book by its cover, thats what its there for.) Jasmine's mask changes from an Indian one to an American one as she embraces America. She wants to be American which is why she puts on these “name masks” to show other people what she is about. Think about it yourself, I don't tell prospective employers my name is “Chris”, I usually use “Christopher” because it sounds older and more mature. How do you use your name to communicate with people?