annotated bibliographies for jasmine

7/23/2019 Annotated Bibliographies for Jasmine

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Singh 1

Meheak Singh

Ms. Gardner

English 10H/ Period 4

20 October 2015

Desire, or Duty?

Evans, Donald G. "Overview of 'Jasmine'."Literature of Developing Nations for Students:

Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Literature of Developing Nations. Ed.

Elizabeth Bellalouna, Michael L. LaBlanc, and Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 1. Detroit:

Gale, 2000.Literature Resource Center

. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Donald G. Evans expertly uses antithesis to describe the constriction Jasmine, an

immigrant from India, feels from her duties as a wife, and the desires she has:

similarly, he examines the idea of Jasmine accepting her destiny or paving her own

path in life. Following her desire would result in adventure, love, and happiness

which ultimately leads to danger, heartbreak, and sadness. He analyzes Jasmines

mangled thoughts, and the overall theme of free will or predestination

Evans fluidity guides readers through the depths of language, culture and

devotion to unravel the complex knot of choices found inJasmine. He explores each

of these options and their respectively risks, showing how difficult Jasmines

decision must have been to make. His paradoxical literature explores multiple


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contrasting ideas, and it offers mindful insight to disentangle Jasmines boundless

journey.

Lost Identities

Leard, Abha Prakash. "Mukherjee'sJasmine." The Explicator 55.2 (Winter 1997): 114-117. Rpt.

in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter and Deborah A. Schmitt. Vol.

115. Gale, 1999.Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Abha Leard explores the cultural restrictions and violence the protagonist experiences,

and how multiple identities portrayed inJasmineallowed her to advance from those

beliefs. Jasmines names- Jyoti, Jasmine, Jazzy, Jase, Jane- slowly get more westernized,

and they help to cloak her ethnic differences and survive in a hostile, alien land. These

are also what enabled Jane to break free of the constraints put on by her strict Hindu

upbringing.

With each identity, comes rebirth, and Leards writing clearly shows the effect of these

adapted beliefs and lifestyles. It gives insight on Jasmines emotions as she grew, and

how those evolving identities were the reason she able to adapt. With this knowledge, the

protagonist, each and every one of them, and her choices becomes more understandable.


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Cultural Constraints

Mathur, Suchitra. "Bharati Mukherjee: Overview."Feminist Writers . Ed. Pamela Kester-Shelton.

Detroit: St. James Press, 1996.Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Suchitra Mathur accurately portrays Mukherjees style of writing as immigrant culture

which more specifically becomes finding the correct balance between old and new

cultures or beliefs. Mukherjee herself was an immigrant from India, and the influences

from her own ordeals in her novels is unmistakeable she understood the daily struggles

of being torn between the American and Hindu lifestyles. The undertone of her own

encounters is evident throughout her writing, accurately describing the hopeful dreams

new immigrants have, and how quickly those dreams can shatter.

Having had these experiences, Mukherjees eyes were opened to the fact that America

was not exactly the magical place she once held it to be making her writing as realistic

as her personal ordeals. This preventedJasmine from portraying America as the land of

possibilities that Mukherjee had falsely envisioned. Mathur even goes as far to say that

the constant violence found in Mukherjees literary works may be symbolic to this

division of culture, representing the emotions that each immigrant regularly battles with.


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The Mind of Mukherjee

Mukherjee, Bharati, and Beverley Byers-Pevitts. "An Interview with Bharati Mukherjee."

Speaking of the Short Story: Interviews with Contemporary Writers. University Press

of Mississippi, 1997. 189-198. Rpt. inShort Story Criticism. Ed. Anja Barnard. Vol.

38. Detroit: Gale, 2000.Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

Beverley Byers-Pevitts emphasizes Mukherjees subtly placed personal experiences

found in each of her novels. Mukherjee considers each and every one of her novels

to be autobiographical- though each story different from the last- because all of

them are heavily influenced by situations and ideas that are of value to Mukherjee.

Her writing, which often included a sheer wall of metaphor in order to cloak the

true meaning, has evolved from the distant third person to a passionate first person.

These factors make Mukherjees novel,Jasmine , more understandable and realistic.

By tearing down the wall between the reader and herself, Mukherjee allows herself

to put pieces of her own life into each of her fictions, making the novel all the more

realistic. Her shift to first person allows more emotions to run throughout the novel,

emphasizing the characters and situations.


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Cultural Shock

Rajeswari, P., and K. Balamurugan. "Cultural shock: a major issue in Bharati Mukherjee's

novels."Language In IndiaNov. 2014: 259+.Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 Nov.

2015.

This article gives more insight to the restraints and cultural shock each Indian woman still

feels from her religion once she leaves her native land. It outlines the causes and effects

of these restraints while immigrating, and even goes as far to say that woman can not

escape them. Indian women are brought up with strict religions, and once they travel

abroad they must adapt to western nation which causes intense mental and physical

misery.

Rajeswari and Balamurugan carefully study the different types of culture shock each of

Mukherjee's characters go through. Jasmine, the only successful character to adapt in

America, managed to evolve through her many identities. They explain that this

transformation, her newfound identities, and the ability to break from the restraints put on

her from her culture are what allowed her to bloom in the unknown land.


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Womens Challenges

Udas, Sumnima. "Challenges of Being a Woman in India - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News

Network, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Udas studies the horrifying facts about women in small villages in India, and the

brutalities that they have suffered from their gender. He explains that women are

pressured to abort or kill their daughters, and when they do survive, women are forced

into marriage at an age where they can not even begin to understand what is happening.

Not only that, but they are raped constantly, and receive no rights.

This article helps understands the emotions Jasmine feels more clearly. She was

pressured into marriage early in her teenage years, had little respect from family and

peers, and raped once she arrived to America. It also helps explain her desire for a new

identity, and to leave her religion behind in order to pursue a new life.

annotated bibliographies for jasmine

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