Avoiding Disappointment

            Pessimism is the key to avoiding disappointment.  In so many aspects of life people tend to look at the bright side of things, listen to how positive others are on certain situations, and assume the outcome of their own adventure to be a success.  School is a perfect example of how pessimism is they key to avoiding disappointment.  I can’t even count how many history tests I’ve taken, thought I aced, and got back days later to see nothing other than a fat C on the front.  Sure a C is an average grade, but I was expecting the best I could go, so mediocre just wasn’t good enough.  The pessimist would have expected a failing grade and would’ve been completely satisfied with receiving a C.  I think people have too high of expectations on certain things, and that calls for nothing more than sheer disappointment. 

Chapter 17 in the novel Jasmine, by Bharati Mukherjee, demonstrates a perfect example of an individual having high expectations and being completely let down.  America is portrayed to other countries as this amazing, powerful, land of the free.  Jasmine, in the novel, was in for a rude awakening when she had her first day in the states.  A man, Half-Face, came across as a good guy when he helped Jasmine with a ride in her attempt at going back home to her husband.  When she thought they were going to settle for the night, Half-Face raped Jasmine.  Not only was he forceful and vulgar, but he talked at her about what he was going to do and why he wanted nothing more from her than sex; basically. 

The novel skipped the details of the actual rape itself, and I believe the reasoning behind that was to show how mentally degrading he was to Jasmine.  Not only did he completely dishonor this woman by raping her, but he wore her husband’s jacket, looked at her pictures, and went through all of her things.  The purpose of this scene wasn’t to show the ruthlessness of the treatment with Jasmine, but the callous behavior reflecting this mans psychiatric issues.  After he raped her, Jasmine asked permission to go to the bathroom.  Half-Face made it clear that she needed to hurry up because he was definitely going to rape her again when she finished cleaning herself.

Debating between slitting her own throat and continuing life’s mission, Jasmine chose something I thought was out of the ordinary.  She vomited, cleaned herself, and slit her tongue with a small, incredibly sharp knife  Jasmine continued back into the room, sat next to the bedside where Half-Face lay rest, and let her mouth fill with blood as she watched him.  Holding the knife at his throat, Half-Face jumped up and was cut.  Blood shot out like crazy, but he couldn’t find the tiny hole that had been punctured.  When he fell to the floor, Jasmine threw a sheet over him and stabbed the man to death.  I must say I was expecting a completely different outcome in this respect, but I don’t blame Jasmine for acting the way she did.

Being the strong-willed person she is, Jasmine walked out of the building and continued on her journey to see her husband and burn that suit.  Jasmine mentions before this rape scene about how America has so many better opportunities for her.  It is obvious that she was very envious of the people and living situations in the US.  Let us go back to my initial thought with this; had Jasmine been pessimistic, maybe she wouldn’t have been so trusting with Half-Face.  I could be jumping to a vast conclusion, but my whole life that is one of the main things I have been warned from; hitch-hiking and trusting sketchy men.  Perhaps the portrayal of this country is that with justice, and I am simply dumb-founded with the idea of a society being more selfish and dominating than ours.