Rape

        Jasmine has had a tough life and it is now about to get worse.  At this point in the novel Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine is trying to travel to the United States after her husband was killed in the bombing of a sari shop.  She got fake papers that allow her to travel, they have worked so far.  Jasmine is taking a boat to the United States. 

        Once Jasmine gets off The Gulf Shuttle she grabs her suitcase and starts walking down the road.  Half-Face, the captain of the boat, stops his car and tells her to get in.  From the start Half-Face has been rough with her; he put his hand on hers until she moved it and he took her suitcase and put it in his car.  He takes Jasmine “deep into pine and Sabal palm country… at the Flamingo court,” an abandoned hotel with plywood panels. 

        Half-Face throws her bag into the room then acts like there is no coercion involved and pulls her into the room and starts kissing her.  He brags about all the electronics he has, Jasmine tells him “My husband is a genius at repairing televisions.”(112)  This enrages him; most likely from his experience from the Vietnam war, he believes that all of Asia is the “armpit of the universe.”(112)  He slams her head into the T.V. cracking it and yelling at her not to lie to him. 

        He now begins to go through her suitcase and finally gets to the blue suit, which he tries to put on but it is too small.  This is another point in which Jasmine can’t believe what is happening; her beloved husband’s suit is being violated by this disgusting man. 

        Half-Face starts drinking and getting undressed; Jasmine asks for water and pleads with him not to do this.  She tells him that her husband was killed, but he doesn’t care and proceeds to rape her, all the while she prays for the strength to survive long enough so she can kill herself. 

        All she wants to do now is die and that is her first thought once it is over and tells her to go clean up.  Jasmine takes out her knife and holds the blade to her throat, but she has a sudden thought that “What if my mission was not yet over?”(117)  This thought is extremely important, this is when and where she starts her new life in America.  She decides that she has more to do with her life and decides not to kill herself. 

        Jasmine leaves the bathroom and goes over to Half-Face and slits his throat instead of her own.  She has had her revenge but she still wants more, Jasmine wanted him to see her killing him.  After cleaning herself up, she gathers up all of her belongings, wipes away her fingerprints and then burns the suitcase. 

        Once leaving the hotel Jasmine starts walking down the road again.  She comes upon men working and asks for water, they don’t understand her and tell her there is no work here.  Lillian Gordon comes by saves her, takes her back to her house, makes sure she gets back on her feet, and teaches her to act like an American.  Jasmine now starts a new chapter in her life in New York. 

        This episode is important because this is a turning point for Jasmine.  Instead of following through with burning her husband’s suit where he was going to college, she decided to start her life over by “traveling light.”(121)  She also will never be the same; the rape has changed her outlook on the United States.  Jasmine feels the plight of the emigrants when she sees stories on the news.  I believe that Jasmine will be able to take care of herself from now on.