a pattern in chaos

Chaos Theory, also known as the “butterfly effect” is the concept that the smallest variation in the beginning of something’s natural process can cause extreme variations in the long run.  The “butterfly effect” comes from the idea that something as small as the flap of a butterfly’s wings may ultimately cause something as extreme as a tornado.  In the novel “Jasmine” by Bharati Mukherjee, this idea is the center of the storyline and shows that order really is non-existent.

Jasmine, the main character and narrator of the novel was born in the small village of Hasnapur in Punjab, India.  At the onset of the story, in the very first pages, there is evidence of the chaos that the author is trying to create.  An astrologer foretells the future of Jasmine, saying that she will live out a life of widowhood and exile.  Jasmine denies this future and refuses to not be in control of her destiny.   

After the first half of Jasmine’s foretold future comes true and her Indian husband dies, she decides to leave the country to perhaps get away from the Indian society which she may believe has a hold on her.  While doing this she fulfills the second half of the prophecy and ends up in America after a long journey. In America she moves between several different families, in each of which she lives out a different identity.  Jasmine’s name ends up changing several times.   Although in most cases she doesn’t decide on the name herself, she no doubt gladly accepts them because they are different from the Jasmine who was destined to a bleak future.  

Jasmine has a star-shaped scar in the center of her forehead that she acquired after refusing to accept her future as told by the astrologer.  The scar is said by Jasmine to be her “third eye”(p.5), which probably is a reference to the traditional Indian bindi decoration worn for religious symbolism of having a “divine eye” or “eye of wisdom” The author’s intention may have been to show that Jasmine was never meant to dispose of her original identity, and the bindi symbolizes the Hindu culture to which she belongs.

The entire form of the book is chaotic after the initial scene with the astrologer.  The story follows a non-linear and out-of-order structure by jumping to different points in her life through Jasmine’s narration.  Not only the structure is completely random but Jasmine’s life is as well.  The author very cleverly displays the traditional Indian way of life which has a definite order to it.  Jasmine was supposed to marry-off at a young age to an older man to which she would bear the children of and be the perfect traditional wife.  Where the chaos theory comes in is at the very start when Jasmine refuses to follow the predetermined sequence of events.  The irony is that everyday life is chaotic and follows no pattern, and that even though she broke away from the “average” she fulfilled her foretold future.