Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Summary

Jasmine is the story of a young Punjabi woman named Jasmine whose life takes her from India to the United States, where she lives out many different destinies. As the novel begins, Jasmine is a seven-year-old girl. An astrologer informs her that she will be widowed and exiled one day. The astrologer tells the girl that one cannot challenge destiny. As Jasmine runs away from the astrologer, she falls and a twig cuts her forehead. This makes it appear as if she has what the Oracle calls a third eye, a way of seeing things that others cannot.

After being tended to by her sisters, Jasmine swims in a sun-kissed river until she bumps into the decayed carcass of a dog. A horrible stench arises from the dead dog, a smell that haunts Jasmine to this day, every time she takes...