My dear brothers,
I have finally made it to America. The journey was long and hard, but somehow, I managed to arrive alive. I hope things are well at home. I hope our dear mother is doing well. Tell her I am sorry for leaving, but help her understand that it was for Prakash that I had to leave.
I've been to many different countries with many different languages over the past months, but I'm finally settled in Florida. A wonderful woman, Lillian, has helped me get on my feet. She has given me food, shelter, and is teaching me how to act like an American so that I won't get caught. You would hardly recognize me if you saw me. Lillian has taught me how to walk like an American girl, to walk with pride and confidence. She calls me Jazzy. I admit, it isn't something I agree with, but it keeps me from being caught.
Yesterday, she took me to an indoor market. I couldn't believe how many shops there were. There was a stairway that moved mechanically up or down with people on it. She told me that the Americans look for people who are afraid to get off of this 'escalator' and ship them away. I admit I was afraid, but I just closed my eyes and stepped. It was such an invigorating experience. I hope they get one in Hanaspur so you can try it someday.
America isn't what I thought it would be. When I arrived, it looked much like India. But it is not like India. At least at home I was safe from other men. In America, there was no one to protect me. The first night, a white man called Half-Face took me by force. I tried to be polite and keep him off of me, but he kept advancing. He tried to touch me, and told me to take off my garments. I tried to keep him from touching me, but it only became worse. When I resisted, he forced himself into me. It felt like a rabid dog ripping apart my flesh. I was so ashamed of what happened. I wanted to end my life, but I knew I couldn't. I did a terrible thing, brothers. Instead of killing myself, I killed him. I will not discuss by what means here, but I can tell you it was not clean. I felt impure, but now all I can do is think that it was the right thing to do. By killing him, I've righted the many wrongs he has done not only to me, but to countless others. I have also kept him from shaming many more women who have no choice but to come to America in the dead of night.
But do not worry, dear brothers. I am well now. Soon, I will go to New York, to find Professorji, and to make my own life in America. I pray for your health and safety in these troubled times. Please, look after yourselves and after mother, and keep faith that India will find peace.
Your loving sister
I like how you wrote your blog with a creative approach by writing a letter and I think if Jasmine would write a letter to anyone as she traveled to America, I agree that it definitely would have been her brothers and other family members from her home country. With “Jasmine”, I did not really like Prakash that much at first but after the way she was treated by Half Face, I did have more respect for Prakash. Prakash may have not always said the nicest things to her and sometimes the things he did say to her could be seen as disrespectful but at least he cared about her enough to not rape her or beat her up, unlike Half Face.
ReplyDeleteI really despised Half Face for what he did to her and I think nobody should have to go through what Jasmine had to go through because of Half Face. Nobody should get raped or abused and I think it is really sad to hear about people getting raped or abused on the news like that, which unfortunately seems to happen a lot. I don’t understand why somebody would want to rape another person and I don’t see how anybody could think there is nothing wrong with doing that to somebody, because it is a wrong thing to do. Thankfully, it has never happened to me and I hope it never does but I do know people who have been raped and it is a very difficult thing for them to talk about. It took them years to become comfortable discussing it to others.
Although I don’t agree with people being murdered either, I think Jasmine definitely should have fought back in defense against Half Face. By defending herself, she stopped Half Face from raping any other girls in the future and she stood up for not only herself but also for other girls who didn’t fight back when they had been raped and I don’t just mean women who were raped by Half Face but also girls who were raped by anybody, in general. I believe it only takes one person to be brave and stand up for what’s right and given the situation, Jasmine was the brave one for standing up against her attacker. Her getting raped was never her fault and I personally think that she should never blame herself for what happened to her.
I think Lillian was one of the few people in the novel that was actually good to her, aside from Taylor and Duff, of course. Lillian took her in and helped her when she needed help. She took care of her by giving her food and shelter and protecting her as long as she could and I agree by Lillian associating with Jasmine by calling her a different name definitely helped to protect Jasmine as well.
I think one of the hardest things for Jasmine to do when she left her country for America that was being in knowledge of the fact that she would have to leave her family behind. I know this would be hard for me to do, especially leaving my mother and my dog.
Quentin Tarantino! THERE's a connection I never thought of. :)
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of rape: why do you think the narrator includes Half-Face in her list of "husbands" for which she's had a different identity? This has always bothered me; I don't know what to make of it, and it's something I viscerally dislike about an otherwise favorite novel.
I agree with Ashley that this is a creative letter. While Ashley cannot understand why Half-face raped Jasmine and Jasmine killed Half-face, I can understand it, even though I also despise Half-Face and am not consent with Jasmine's behavior. Then why I say I can understand it? I feel that's because I know people are animal with a combination of emotion and reason. Most of the time, we are irrational, who can control and think about our behaviors, but there are other times, we just cannot control what we will do. Half-Face raped Jasmine because he is out of control in front of a beautiful woman, who does not have the capacity to protect herself. Jasmine killed Half-Face is because it is so hard to keep irrational standing beside a man who raped you so cruelly. They know that's something incorrect, but they can't help to prevent it. And people will always take the cost for what they have done. As the cost, Half-Face lost his life. As the cost, Jasmine will always feel guilty and impure, and can never get of this terrible memory in her whole lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAnother point I want to discuss is that you talk about Jasmine's feelings when she first came to America. Obviously, Jasmine was exposed to a new world here, a world full of new things. Variety kinds of shops, products and elevator may be something new she saw, nevertheless, the most important thing is the new spirit-freedom. From here, Jasmine realize that she is not someone belongs to her family or husband that she belongs to herself. She can decide what kind of girl she wants to be. She dressed up and walked on the street confidently. She is free to choose her way now and in the future.At the same time, as you write in the letter, "America isn't what I thought it would be. When I arrived, it looked much like India. But it is not like India." America is not a perfect country as well. Jasmine must face many new difficulties. She needs to protect herself and try to get in the new culture. Fortunately, our character is strong enough for all of this.
Go Gina! I like the way you wrote your blog for Jasmine.
ReplyDeleteIt's kinda of interesting that you didn't discuss Jasmine's love life explicitly like everyone else has. You instead went the route on Jasmine becoming her own again, which made this to be a rather fresh read.
My mind couldn't really trigger away from the fact Jasmine came to have so many lovers. I might be too traditional (and no matter what Dr. K says this makes me boring) but I just couldn't grasp why the need to define herself through these men. I know we all do it, but I don't believe all of us go as far as to change our names for others. Exactly, other people. I almost feel as if Jasmine needed other people to define her.
The idea of American men not being safe, and her feeling as if she needed to be protected intrigues me as well. I wonder if that is why she sought out so many lovers- she needed to ensure some men cared about her and therefore could feel safe.
I wonder how much Jasmine changed herself to become what she wanted. or who she wanted to be. Is this idea even considered changing yourself? I've always heard become who you want to be. But who decides who we are? Henceforth how can we determine Jasmine ever changed herself when she was simply becoming who she wanted to be.
Gina,
ReplyDeleteI love this blog! I thought your letter as Jasmine was great. As I was reading it, I believed it was her voice I was hearing. You stayed true to the character and the story line by including things such as the escalator and some of her other thoughts of America and her experiences she had after she first had. I find it interesting that you included the rape scene in your letter especially since she never told anyone about the rape except Taylor but not until much later. Maybe she needed to tell someone and her brothers were the perfect outlet to tell. I hated that scene by the way. It made me feel dirty and it didn't even happen to me. I must admit that I cheered inside when she killed him. Not that I advocate murder by any means however rape is such a violation that killing him seemed like justice was served. I know Dr. K mentioned it in class and then again in her response to you but I don't know why she included Half-Face as one of her husbands either. Why include him? The only thing I can think of is that each of the men in her life (Prakash, Taylor, and Bud) each contributed to her transformation. I think in a way, Half-Face contributed to her transformation. She associated each of her names with each of her men but with Half-Face, she was Kali-the Hindu goddess of destruction. She destroyed Half-Face. The picture of Kali is her standing on a man's head with the heads of other men around her neck. I interpret those as her victims. Maybe by being Kali in this situation, she was no longer the rape victim by Half-Face became her victim. She destroyed him, literally, and he was no longer able to destroy another woman in the way that him destroyed a piece of Jasmine through the rape. Just a thought. Well done on your blog!