In the Bharati Mukherjee¡¯s novel ¡°Jasmine¡±, the author tries to show jasmine¡¯s change in her thoughts and her entire life through changing her name. Also, she tries to show the quest for Jasmines identity in an alien land by the pain of separation from her homeland and the disorientation -in two meanings- of her mind. Jasmine, the main character of the novel, undergoes several transformations during her journey of life in America, from Jyoti to Jasmine to Jane, Jase to Jazzy to Kali, and often experiences a deep sense of separation resulting in a fluent state of identity.
             Jyoti was born in Hasnapur in India and was the main character¡¯s name during her childhood. She was the most beautiful and clever girl in the family. However, her life as an Indian woman was controlled and dominated by her father and brothers,
             ¡°Village girls are like cattle, whichever way you lead them, that is the way they will go¡± (46)
             However, Jyoti seeks a modern and educated husband and finds a man, Prakash. Prakash wants Jyoti to study English, and gives her a new name Jasmine, and a new life in America. In the story, her name as jasmine represents her life period happiness, but her happy life ends shortly. She loses her husband and returns to India. At that period, she gets to choose between the traditions of her family, or continue to live with the name of Jasmine in America. Jasmine starts on a painful trip as an illegal immigrant to Florida, and begins her trip to search her true identity.
             Jasmine sways between the past and the present trying to make things clear between her own worlds, one of ¡°nativity¡± and the other as an ¡°immigrant¡±. But finally Jyoti comes to America to search more successful life and to realize the dreams of her husband, Prakash, who renamed her as ¡°Jasmine¡±. After that, she begins her journey again for her second-new life. She meets Taylor who calls her J...