Predetermined Missions

Last week I said that there are many people in this world who believe in fate or destiny. They feel there is a specific role chosen for them which they must play, while others believe that there is no fixed or natural order to the universe; that their fates are theirs to decide. Throughout Bharati Mukherjee’s novel Jasmine, the main character, Jasmine believes this and keeps this in mind throughout her daily life. In chapter nine we see her discussing her belief about different missions and assignments in life. Jasmine believes that God gives everyone an assignment and that when they are done, their life is over.

This belief is strongly connected to her belief in fate and destiny, and is possibly due to her encounter with the astrologer when she was a child. At the young age of seven Jasmine learns of a future of widowhood and exile. She rebels by saying, “You’re a crazy old man. You don’t know what my future holds!” (3). The astrologer merely replies with, “Suit yourself… What is to happen will happen” (3). Later on, in chapter nine, we see this still affecting her thoughts and beliefs. Jasmine has a conversation with Taylor about how, “The Lord lends us a body, gives us an assignment, and sends us down. When we get the job done, the Lord calls us home again for the next assignment” (59). This quickly sums up Jasmines belief in the purpose of life and why we are here. She lives her life by this and gives Taylor an example of how this happens when she describes her father and his death.

Right away Jasmine tells us about how horribly her father dies; “He got off a bus in a village two hours west of us and was gored by a bull”. She then goes on to say how her father also shared the belief that they were here for a purpose/assignment and when it is done death would find them; “He’ll have to be a very sneaky fellow to catch me by surprise” (58) when referring to death. It is part of her culture beliefs and Jasmine has had these beliefs imbedded in her since youth. Not only has the astrologer told her what would happen in her life, but her father has said that death would be coming at some point.

Jasmine’s belief in life’s missions and assignments extends throughout her life. She goes on to tell Taylor that no one knows their mission, and perhaps hers is to bring Taylor enlightenment; “Maybe my assignment was to bring you enlightenment” (59). We see that Jasmine strongly believes in this concept and accredits it to how she got where she is today. She suggests that her life assignment and that of her fathers brought her to her to “Bud and to make possible the baby I am carrying, or to bring Du and me together in America” (60). Once again this shows how Jasmine incorporates this belief into her everyday life and how she attributes life’s events to God’s missions for them. So far we see how this affects her mentality when dealing with situations in her life. Jasmine’s belief in fate and life’s missions are strongly intertwined and is shown frequently throughout the novel.