What's in a Name?

         Everyone should have his/her own name. The reason that people are given a name is to identity who we are. My name is Howing. I’ve been using this name since I came to this United States. I do not mean I do not have an English name, but I just do not use it because I like people calling me Howing. When I was in England, I was called Christopher or Chris. People in England had never called me Howing because I did not use this name that time. Therefore, I have two names right now. When I talk to the people in the United States, I’m called Howing. And when I talk to the people in England, I’m called Chris or Christopher because they feel so unfamiliar to them if they call me Howing. Also, they’ve told me that the pronunciation of Howing is too hard for them; therefore, they prefer calling me Christopher or Chris. This reminds me of the main character in Bharati Mukherjee’s novel “Jasmine”, Jasmine who constantly changes her name depending on who she’s with and where she’s at in her life.

        “I have had a husband for each of the women I have been. Prakash for Jasmine, Taylor for Jase, Bud for Jane. Half-Face for Kali”, Jasmine says. (Mukherjee P.197). Jasmine was born in Punjab, India. When she was in India, her name was Jyoti that means “light”. She met a man named Prakash Vijh who “was a modern man, a city man” (Mukherjee P. 76) and she married to him. After marrying to Prakash Viji, Jyoti was given a new name “Jasmine”. She embraces it because she longs for change. The new name makes her believe that she is now more modern. She wants to get away from India and starts a new life with her husband. However, her husband was killed in a terrible bombing accident. She was left to pick up the pieces and to complete the mission that she had promised Prakash that she would complete.

        When Jasmine first arrived in the America, she was raped on the shrimp boat by the captain named Half Face. She ends up turning into the Hindu goddess Kali who she embraces in order to get justice for herself. She then kills Half Face because she believes that she will be able to move on her life in killing him. After that incident, Jasmine met a person named Lillian Gordon who gives Jasmine a new name “Jazzy”. Lillian Gordon once tells Jasmine, “let the past make you wary, by all means.  But do not let it deform you” (Mukherjee P.131) Because of Lillian Gordon, Jasmine was able to learn how the people in the United States dress and talk and it makes Jasmine finally go to New York and meet Taylor and Wylie.

        Taylor, Wylie and an adopted child named Duff were a happy family. Jasmine was doing a job as a care giver in their house and that moment she was given a new name by Taylor. The new name is Jase and Jasmine also likes it and embraces because she falls in love with Taylor. “I liked the name he gave me: Jase.  Jase was a woman who bought herself spangled heels and silk chartreuse pants” (Mukherjee P.176). She becomes a new American girl in New York who ends up spending all the money she has made during the time she was a care giver. “Jyoti would have saved…Jasmine lived for the future…Jase went to movies and lived for today”, Jasmine says. (Mukherjee P. 176) Once Jasmine falls in love with Taylor, Wylie falls out of love. However, Jasmine does not decide to stay with Taylor because she sees the man who kills her husband, Prakash. She does not want to put Taylor and Wylie into the dangerous; therefore, she decides to leave New York and goes to Iowa.

        Bud, a man that Jasmine meets in Iowa, finally becomes the father of her child. Jane is another name that Bud gives her. But we can see that Jasmine does not really like this name because she once says, “in Baden, I am Jane. Almost” (Mukherjee P. 26). “Almost” this word can tell the readers that she does not fully accept this name and it tells in the end of the novel because when Taylor comes back for her, she determines to return to the name Jase. “…nothing is forever, nothing is so terrible or so wonderful, that it won’t disintegrate”, Jasmine says. (Mukherjee P. 181) I think she believes that her names are not forever. When she changes her name, that means it’s time for her to face the new challenge and the new life. When her name is changed over and over again, she is getting rid of her past and letting her fight and adapt to new challenges. It is her way that she lets people see her as, “humorous, intelligent, refined, affectionate.  Not illegal, not murderer, not widowed, raped, destitute, fearful” (Mukherjee P. 171).