Jumping Names by Mariahisms on Blogster

(Malaga, Spain)

Everyone has a given name, mine is Mariah, in the way they call the wind. As a child you never question why you received the name you did, it just quickly becomes a part of who you are with no further thought required. I found as I started maturing I wanted to know how my name came about. I was about 19 when I had the conversation with my mom about my name. Upon speaking with here I was shocked to discover the other name being considered for me was Fiona. I was appalled, no offense to the name, but I couldn’t see myself with it. Looking back now I have found that I have grown an Identity with my name, and a strong one at that. My name is my brand and it tells a certain story about me. I still wonder at times had I been instilled with the name Fiona rather then Mariah, would I be a different person then I am today? This thought forces me to ask the question, does a person own a name, or does a name own a person? This question is a very valid issue with the main character in Bharati Mukherjee’s novel Jasmine, as she takes on many different names and with those different identities as well.

Jasmine, Jyoti, Wife, Jane, Kali, Jase, and Jazzy are all the names Jasmine has embodied in her life experience thus far. Jasmine States, “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” (197). These are four of the names in which jasmine has found a new identity. With so many name changes it is questioned whether Jasmine owns her name or if she lets her names own her. In the beginning of the novel Jasmine states “I know what I don’t want to become” (5). It is obvious throughout the novel Jasmine uses these name changes to gain new identities. With each of these names Jasmine feels she is headed towards what she doesn’t want to become, so she jumps from one Identity to the next. In this sense Jasmine is running away from her old identities, but it is critical that she does in order to achieve this newness of “humorous, intelligent, refined, and affectionate. Not illegal, not murderer, not widowed, raped, destitute, fearful” (171), which she wants to become.

(Venice, Italy)

Every person has different ways of making changes in their lives, for jasmine the change is in the name. Although I feel this is a valiant effort Jasmine makes to achieve newness, it doesn’t cover up the fact that she is still running away from her old identity. However, I feel although she may be running away, she owns each of her names. With each name comes a new lifestyle and new people in it. “Jasmine lived for the future. Jase went to movies and lived for today” (176). She recognizes the different names she embraces, and knows of the different identities they pose for her. She states that “for every Jasmine the reliable caregiver, there is a Jase the prowling adventurer. I thrilled to the tug of opposing forces” (176). She may seem to be running away from her identity but she owns her names because she is always taking into account her past good and bad (her husbands killer and half face), which help her on her journey to discovering who she wants to be.

With each of Jasmines names there was a new identity and a new story to her life. Jasmines journey to knowing who she wanted to be finally resolved at the end of the novel as she left her identity as Jane, Bud’s wife, to return to Jase. Jasmine was not always running away from her identity, rather protecting those who she cared for. Without the opportunity to try different identities, her character would not have been able to find who she wanted to become.

So ultimately what is in a name? A brand, the story that you create for your life, for many of us this may mean more then one. There are those lucky few who know who they are, or what they want to become. But for the rest, we may find ourselves caught in the same situation as Jasmine, jumping from one identity to the next, discovering who we definitely don’t want to become in the hopes of building our brand and story. Once we have a clear picture, watch out, because we become, as Jasmine puts it “greedy with wants, and reckless from hope” (241).