Responsibilities of the Floating World

We have all heard the famous quote; ignorance is bliss. This is true; we can go about our lives being completely content knowing absolutely nothing about what is going on in the world around us. However is it ethical and responsible to ignore the good the bad and the ugly things that are happening around us? Further more, once you have learned that there is something important going on is it possible to be content pretending it does not exist?

In Bharati Mukherjee and Salman Rushdie’s stories “Jasmine” and “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers” (respectively) a side of the world that is foreign to many of us is brought out into the open and revealed for us to see. The stories reveal some aspects of the world that are not pleasant and may be difficult for people to read about and think about. However, as citizens of the floating world, it is important to pay attention to these issues; even though they may be difficult to think about.

In Mukherjee’s novel “Jasmine” we are given a look into a world that is foreign to most of us; that of the subaltern. Jasmine is a woman from India who looses her husband in a tragic accident and travels to the United States to in hopes to burn her deceased husband’s clothes. Throughout the novel we are brought into a different world; that of the subalterns and we experience Jasmine’s hopes, dreams, struggles, and hardship as she travels across the world. Jasmine experiences many things that people who are not considered subalterns, or people who lack a “voice” in the society would experience. “’Look, just don’t fuck with me. I been to Asia and it’s the armpit of the universe.’ He dragged me to the television and pressed my forehead against the screen. Then he brought my head back and slammed it against the set, again and again.” (p. 112). The preceding quote from Jasmine describes what Jasmine goes through just before her brutal rape by half-face. Because Jasmine is a subaltern, she is forced to come to the United States in a boat with no place to live. Therefore she is forced to go with the captain of the boat, half-face and is then raped by him.

A legal citizen of the United States would probably not have found themselves in the same predicament that Jasmine found herself in. Because of Jasmine’s status, she found herself with no where else to go besides to the hotel with half-face. Also, if a legal citizen of the United States had been raped, that person could bring the case to authorities, however Jasmine being a subaltern must deal with her misfortune in a different way. “The blade need not be long, only sharp, and my hand not strong, only quick.” (p. 118). Jasmine contemplates what it will take to kill her rapist, minutes later, he is stabbed and dead.

In Salman Rushdie’s “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers” the narrator tells a story of an auction in which everything in existence is for sale. These items for auction include things such as mountains and the statue of liberty. The narrator of the story goes on to explain that people want to purchase these items because of the status they get from owning the item, not for the joy of owning the item. “In fiction’s grip, we may mortgage our homes, sell our children, to have whatever it is we crave.” (p. 102). The narrator analyzes the kind of power the auction can have over people. Early in the story, he decides that he must have the pair of ruby slippers that are up for sale in order to impress his cousin Gale. However as the story goes on, the narrator comes to realize that perhaps purchasing these items is not the way to win a person’s heart. He realizes that having everything up for sale could land the world into a catastrophic position, in which things such as air and water, things that are basic human needs, could end up being owned by someone. “Next week there is another auction. Family trees, coats of arms, royal lineages will be up for sale, and into any of these one may insert any name one chooses, one’s own, or one’s beloved’s.” (p. 102). The narrator describes what will happen next week and upon deciding that purchasing the ruby slippers is not the way to win his cousin’s heart, decides to go home and go to sleep.

This story represents much more than an auction. It represents problems that are occurring in our world today. The story represents the potential problems that globalization can bring to the world. The world could come to a point to which everything is owned, and even things that should be basic human rights, such as access to water and air, will become someone’s property. These things would no longer be basic human rights.

Both “Jasmine” and “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers” bring compelling problems that occur in our world to the surface into plain sight. These are problems that often go unnoticed by the rest of the world who does not experience the consequences of these issues. As citizens of the floating world, it is important that we take the time to examine what is going on beyond our lives. Paying attention to these issues is one step closer to helping the problems.