Rape as Metaphysical

You said you'd always love me. Best friend, you with the knowledge of all my secrets - my pain, my fears, desires, my lust. You knew me. And in knowing, so intimately, so many sweet days of dreams and declarations, in this you had the privilege to have a piece of my soul. One, I gave openly, trustingly, to you. My first love.

And with it? As I remember the anguish of that day I cringe, knowing you, who betrayed me, you still can recall what my kiss felt like, my touch, the power of my words. You remember my loyalty, the electrical current of my puppy love. I loathe myself for giving that to you, you who took it, knowingly, then tossed it aside to find a better, brighter light. And me, now, years later? I still have not found it, it is not replaceable, this virgin, untouched love. I will never forgive you for taking it from me, this rape of my soul.

Rape is not always literal, in fact it often is not. Jasmine, the title character of Bharati Mukherjee's novel was raped twice. First, the obvious rape, the obvious physical force of the ship smuggler Half-Face upon her unwilling body. The second, more subtle rape was the defilement of her suitcase by Half-Face's touch and his mockery. The items in the suitcase- including her deceased husband's clothing -were sacred. To violate her privacy, to defile her husband's memory was a form of rape. In fact, Jasmine later states, "If only he had left my mission alone. He made me say it. He laughed at it." Jasmine could have withstood her physical rape, yet this rape of the purity of the suitcase, of her mission was unforgivable.

Jasmine considered committing suicide, filled with the agony of nauseating defilement. She did not commit suicide, her rage and her mission to lay her husband to rest kept her alive. However, here we see the old Jasmine of India dying. She states, "I had left my earthly body". With the death of Jasmine, of this purity and old world virtue, she had no identity. In fact, she would have no other identity until she became the happy, carefree Jase, caregiver of Duff. This scene is crucial to the novel because we begin to see the pattern of Jasmine's suicide of the self. Here she dies in crisis, later, Jase will die when she becomes haunted by face of Sukhwinder, the murderer of her husband. Jasmine adapts during crisis, she morphs her identity in order to survive.

In class we've discussed whether or not Jasmine is in control of her destiny. At first I adamantly believed that she was a particle of dust floating in some predestined current - she did not seem to be active in deciding her future. This snippet of the novel is important because it illustrates that Jasmine does take hold her destiny, yet she is subtle, she waits for the opportune moment. During the scene with the rabid dog Jasmine faced death, waiting until the right time to strike at the creature. Here, Jasmine acts similarly. Upon reaching the motel with Half Face, after he has mocked her mission, Jasmine waits for the moment to strike. In waiting for this moment she sacrifices herself; she is raped. Then, when she's ready, when she's purified herself, when he's asleep and weak, she strikes, slitting his throat and changing her destiny.

Rape of the body in a motel, rape of a mission, of an idea, or rape of the soul in heartbreak, these are all destructive forces that tempt one to quit, to die. Laura as loyal lover dies. Jasmine as pure dreamer dies. Laura, stronger, emerges. Jasmine emerges Jase, then as Jane, and finally as Self. She and I both survive, both victims of rape. We are both fueled by a mission and a determination to be in charge of our own destiny.