The novel Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee is an incredible story about the transformation and life experiences of a Punjabi girl from India. Jyoti's life is told from her point of view when she is twenty-four and pregnant with the baby of Bud Ripplemeyer, a crippled banker who is more than twice Jyoti's age. Over two months in Iowa, Jyoti recounts her biographical experiences in Punjab and America as she strives to become independent. Jasmine illustrates that when a person's relationships undergo changes, it will impact their identity. Born in Hasnapur, India, Jyoti is considered the most beautiful and intelligent person in her family. Unlike her sisters and other girls, Jyoti excels in school and continues her studies until 8th grade despite her father's disapproval. Education represents a way for Jasmine to separate herself from the many girls her age, including her sisters, and to shape her identity. In other words, this allows her to break with the semi-feudal rural society in which she lives. Her life, like that of most Indian women of that era, is controlled and dominated by her father and brothers: "Village girls are like cattle, whichever direction you lead them, it's the direction they will follow” (46). Jyoti's opinions are often considered unhelpful. The role of women in the villages was only to be mothers and manage domestic affairs. The first of many glimpses of Jyoti's different identities occurs during her marriage to Prakash. The first time Prakash speaks to Jyoti, he says, “She is a woman of fine sympathies…” (74). He sees her as a delicate and obedient woman who follows her family's wishes and society's restrictions on women. Jyoti describes Prakash as “a modern man… For Prakash, love was about letting go. Independent...... middle of paper ......el Jasmine, Jyoti is in conflict with her past and present as she attempts to combine her life as an immigrant and her life in India. Jyoti comes to America to fulfill her husband, Prakash's dreams and lead a more successful life. She undergoes her first transformation from an innocent and devoted girl to a modern wife when she meets Prakash who calls her Jasmine, then she becomes more American when she meets Lillian Gordon who calls her Jazzy. Later, with Taylor Hayse, who calls her Jase, she begins to accept her past and present together, but seeing her husband's murderer scares her. She then becomes Bud's Jane. Jyoti attempts to establish a new identity as she learns new American customs, skills, and aspirations. These transactions in one's identity manifest in one's attitude toward life and one's relationships with men and women...