‘Jyoti’ in Search of an Identity in a Novel Jasmine

Abstract

Migration is one of the usual phenomena in humans and India is one of the largest diasporas in the world. Diasporic literature reflects the experiences of the immigrants; it includes alienation, displacement, nostalgia, identity crisis, a quest for identity and so on. There are various causes for migration, such as poor economic conditions, human trafficking, better life, etc. Identity plays an important role in migration from one place to another and also plays a crucial role in many studies, such as culture, religion, diaspora and so on. There are various kinds of identity, such as national identity, cultural identity, self-identity, etc. but in the novel, the protagonist is in search of her true and real identity. Jasmine was the third novel, written by Bharati Mukherji. Bharati Mukherjee was a renowned Indo-Canadian writer. This paper depicts through the novel Jasmine how women have to struggle for their life and identity, in search of a better life and in search of their true identity. Through the novel Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee throws light on the life of a widow and how she tries to get away from the restrictions of home and redesign herself in the host land. Jasmine deals with identity and immigrant experiences and describes the journey of a widow.