preview

Exposing the Real Jasmine Essay examples

Better Essays

The prominent characteristic of postcolonial writing is the incorporation of writing back or rewriting history into the narrative from the point of view of the colonized. Postcolonial narratives speak out and attempt to expose the injustices of dominant culture often within their own cultural system. Within this framework, many female authors give agency to the once silenced female voice of the colonized. By employing their own narratives, many postcolonial female authors demystify the prescribed ideologies thrust upon them by a patriarchal culture while at the same time expressing their own sense of loss of cultural identity. Therefore, postcolonial literature applies a counterdiscourse that depicts the realities and struggles of …show more content…

In Hindu culture, the sex of a baby is more significant than in western cultures. In eastern countries, boys are revered and cherished while girls are considered “curses” since being born a girl brought to the father the burden of paying a dowry. This type of gender hierarchy is exemplified in Mukherjee’s novel by Jasmine’s statement, “I had a ruby-red choker of a bruise around my neck and a sapphire fingerprints on my collarbone after my birth. When I revealed this to Taylor’s wife, […] she missed the point and shrieked at my ‘foremothers’ […]. My mother was a sniper. She wanted to spare me the pain of a dowryless bride” (Mukherjee 40). Mukherjee utilizes Jasmine’s nonchalant description of her near death experience coupled with her rationalization to show that the brutal treatment of baby girls is a common occurrence in her culture. Conversely, the reaction of Taylor’s wife is a metaphor for the western perception that the conduct of Jasmine’s mother is a form of barbarism. By using Jasmine’s birth, Mukherjee exposes the realties of a male patriarchal society in which girls bring considered dilemmas to families.
Many postcolonial writers include how the natives’ land was overtaken by force and as a result, the natives had to change their identity to conform to the colonial power. While Jasmine relates her story about living in the native village Hasnapur, she tells the reader that she is married at the age of fourteen

Get Access