At the conclusion of the novel, Jasmine makes the choice to leave Iowa and Bud Ripplemeyer in order to travel to California with Taylor Hayes and his daughter, Duff. Jasmine justifies her decision by explaining “I am not choosing between men. I am caught between the promise of America and old-world dutifulness…It isn’t guilt that I feel, it’s relief...Adventure, risk, transformation: the frontier is pushing indoors through uncaulked windows” (Mukherjee 240). As Jasmine makes the decision to go with Taylor, she finally chooses the identity that will allow her to live, to love, and to be American.

Sam Pagliuca