Morphing Marilyn's

         Clark Kent, Norma Jeane Mortenson, and Gordon Sumner all have something in common; they have all changed their names.  Superman, Marilyn Monroe and Sting all adopted new identities and became their new name.  They have chosen to change their names completely and have morphed into a new identity and character because of it.  But choosing to change your name from Norma to Marilyn is a little different than if you were born an Elizabeth and adapt to nicknames given to you.  One may be called Lizzie, Betsy, Liz, Betty, Beth, or Bessie, all depending on surroundings they live in.  I’ve known several friends who have dropped their nicknames and resorted to their birth name.  After years of being a Mikey, Patty, Ricky or Johnny they grow, adapt and change into Michael, Patricia, Richard or Jonathan.   Most people change their name only once as a sign of adulthood.  By changing a name, allows a person to readily accept a new identity that fits who they are or who they are to become.  But there are some who knowingly accept and change their name for each stage in their life.   This is similar to the narrator, Jasmine, in Bharati Mukherjee’s novel, Jasmine.

        Jasmine has changed, adapted and grown and while doing so, so has her name.  She was born Jyoti but has morphed into Jasmine, Kali, Jazzy, Jase and Jane.   Jasmine never created a new name.  Throughout her life she has met people who gave her nicknames; “I liked the name he gave me (p. 176).”    Her husband, Prakash, called her Jasmine, like the flower.  The man who raped her, Half-Face, called her Kali.  The altruist, Lillian Gordon, called her Jazzy.  In New York she was the caregiver to Wylie and Taylor’s little girl Duff and they called her Jase.  In Baden Iowa, her boyfriend, Bud Ripplemeyer called her Jane.  

        She believes there is a distinct relation to who she is based upon the people that surround her.  Although she has had only one husband, Prakash Vijh, who was murdered in a bombing, she refers to all the men in her life, good and bad, as a type of husband or lover.  “I have had a husband for each of the women I have been.  Prakash for Jasmine, Taylor for Jase, Bud for Jane.  Half-Face for Kali (p. 197).”  She moves from one identity onto another, creating a new name, therefore a new self.  She knows she shifts in identities and explains, “How many more shapes are in me, how many more selves, how many more husbands (p. 215)?”  None of us really know how many shifts or changes we will encounter in our lifetime but there are several of us who do make these adaptations without the drastic change of our sole identity; our name. 

           People grow accustomed to a nickname or a pet name and although they may not have originally conceived it they eventually own it.  Sometimes we can reflect on our past and how we once were, based upon the titles, names or labels we were given; Prom Queen, Cry Baby, Nerd, Show Off, Slut.  Although nicknames don’t necessarily have to be negative, it is the concept that a simple name can make a person into who they are; Doctor, Hooker, Salesman, Janitor, CEO.  I may not have changed my name as Jasmine, but I have definitely worn several hats.  I have morphed into the titles or labels that have been given me and can associate with the names people have come to identify me with.  Who I was has transformed me into who I am.  Each title marks a time in my life; President, Duck, Bartender, Producer.  When reflecting back, it’s as though I’m reminiscing of a long lost acquaintance; was that me, did I do that?   Jasmine now lives in Iowa as Jane and reflects back on her time spent in New York as Jase, “I whisper the name Jase, Jase, Jase, as if I am calling someone I once knew (p. 215).” 

          It is easy to think of ourselves as someone completely different in different stages in our lives, especially if we are trying to move on and not remember the past.  But what better way to forget the past than to reinvent yourself with a new name, each time we grow.  Is this a way to grow towards a new identity, by leaving it all behind?  Or are we suppose to build on top of each experience holding onto our identity by adding to it, not creating something completely new every time.  Although she embraced each new name as a part of her, she is also very capable of renouncing herself and moving onto something new.  When she decides to leave Baden Iowa, she already begins to transform by stating, “I realize I have already stopped thinking of myself as Jane (p. 240).”

            Some people think, what’s the big deal, it’s only a name?  People grow in life and change their name in order to adapt.  But is it easier to change a name like changing clothes in order to not feel accountable or responsible for the past?  Or is it just the American way to constantly be changing and should be looked upon as a sign of growth?  Jasmine does not create any of her names, although she adapts to them and grows from them.  Because she is a dutiful Punjab woman, she doesn’t speak out in regards to the correct pronunciation of her real name Jyoti and therefore accepts any type of recognition, any name that is given her, even if it is given to her by the man who raped her. 

         Jasmine is not entirely in control but it could be argued that her type of control is more the passive rather than the active.  Although she did not create any name, she has embraced it and enjoys the challenges that accompany each name, to the point that she doesn’t mind changing and feels the “adventure, risk, transformation (p. 241)” upon each evolution of herself.  She feels herself as a prowling adventurer and believes that “the world is divided between those who stay and those who leave (p. 228).”  She is torn with the act of consistent change and old-world dutifulness but she just may evolve from all of the transformations of the Kali’s, Jazzy’s, Jase’s and Jasmine’s and resort into Jyoti...  

or possibly a Marilyn.