Jasmine

17 years later, 24-year old Jasmine is living in Elsa County, Iowa, on 1,500 acres of land. Two families, the Lutzes and the Ripplemeyers, own the property.

Jasmine—or as she is known in Iowa, Jane—is pregnant, and the baby’s father, Bud Ripplemeyer, wants to marry her to make their relationship legal before the baby arrives. As a small-town banker whose father founded the First Bank of Baden, Bud is staid and conservative. Jasmine is less than half his age. Jasmine explains that Bud was not confined to a wheelchair before she met him, and is proud that she did not abandon him after his accident.

Bud’s neighbor Darrel Lutz, only son of Gene and Carol Lutz, is planting the crops for the first time by himself. After his obese father choked to death on a piece of Mexican food—too large for the Heimlich maneuver to be performed on him—Darrel’s mother moved to be near his sister in California, leaving Darrel to oversee the extensive family farmlands. Darrel is considering selling the land and moving to New Mexico to open an electronics franchise.

Gene Lutz helped Jasmine while Bud was hospitalized, and Bud wants to offer support to Gene’s son in return. Darrel is excited by a recent visit by businessmen who want to buy his farm and build a golf course on it. This prospect worries Bud, for whom the concept of change is frightening. Nevertheless, he asks Jasmine to marry him even though his first marriage ended in divorce. He and Jasmine live in a three-room frame house, a hired man’s house. Small and ugly, the home nevertheless represents a sense of belonging for Jasmine.

Another member of the Ripplemeyer family, 14-year-old Du Thien, was adopted three years ago. Jasmine describes the teenager as “sometimes contemptuous” (17). Bud and Jasmine were able to adopt Du despite Bud’s divorce because Du was difficult to place anywhere else.

Bud divorced his first wife, with whom he had two sons, after he met Jasmine when she walked into his bank looking for employment. He wanted to make up for a life wasted, hence his affair with Jasmine and the adoption of Du.

Life with the Ripplemeyers, including Bud’s parents, causes Jasmine to reflect on her upbringing in India. She recalls a girl from her village, Vimla, who was wealthy and had a fancy wedding. When her husband died of typhoid, Vimla poured kerosene on her body and set herself on fire. Jasmine thinks of a saying amongst the villagers: “when a clay pitcher breaks, you see that the air inside it is the same as outside” (18). Vimla had broken her pitcher, committing suicide, a far better fate in the villagers’ eyes than that of an old woman such as Mother Ripplemeyer, laboring under the illusion that she was still working on her “shell” despite her age.

Surrounded by Bud’s family, Jasmine admits that she is only “happy enough” (19), as she thinks about the many names she has carried through her young life: “Jane, Jasmine, Jyoti” (19). Although not entirely happy, Jasmine feels completely safe for now.

Darrel Lutz embodies the plight of the young farmer. Jasmine describes an encounter with Darrel where she suspects he is drunk. Since his father’s death, operating the family farm has taken a toll on Darrel. He admits to Jasmine, “I couldn’t go another round with Bud” (20) as Bud refuses to consider a golf course as an acceptable use of the Lutzes’ acreage.

Jasmine has encouraged Bud to finance Darrel’s hog operation as a means of keeping the golf businessmen at bay. The expanse of the Lutz farm seems to be too much for Darrel to handle alone. Despite facing overwhelming odds, Darrel has begun extensive work on building a larger hog pen, which to Jasmine looks “like a landbound Ark” (24).

When Jasmine drops off the inebriated Darrel at his home, he tells her he wants to invite her in some day in the future. He seems to be hinting at having feelings for her, but he concludes saying he has been practicing cooking her Indian recipes and wants her opinion on his progress.