Unlike the others at the law firm, Jasmine has managed to keep her passionate and compassionate sides alive, primarily through music.Įven though she wanted someone else to work for her in the mailroom for the summer, she recognizes a kindred spirit in Marcelo. When she brings Marcelo over to visit, he describes her apartment as 'a rectangular room only slightly larger than my tree house' (14.90), but as long as she has her keyboard and her walls of CDs, she's cool. She's also unafraid to live by herself in tiny room in a Chinatown boarding house 'mostly used by immigrants from Cambodia' (14.94). She knows who she is, she knows what she wants, and she's not afraid to voice her opinion, like when Marcelo tells her Glenn Gould plays 'more correctly' than Keith Jarrett and she says, 'I can't believe you said that. See, Jasmine's not concerned with trying to shmooze anybody, and she's not one of those girls who needs a boyfriend, and she's perhaps the most insightful, self-actualized person in the book. Who Needs a Boyfriend When There are Pianos in the World? But to be fair, we think she'd be fine on her own, too.

It's a good thing she's got Marcelo around to keep her company. Men don't treat her very well, and she works her butt off in a fairly thankless job. Let's just say this girl doesn't have it easy. Well, when I'm around Wendell, I feel like that CD would if it could feel' (9.67).

When Marcelo answers that he feels greedy whenever he sees a CD he wants, Jasmine says, 'Right. Marcelo reports this to Jasmine, whose response is to ask Marcelo if he's ever felt greed for something. When Wendell, the smarmy son of Arturo's law partner Stephen Holmes, smarms at her with his smarminess, he tells Marcelo he's just doing it because Jasmine's so beautiful. While it might seem like a bit of a dead-end job for a pianist whose true passion is music, Jasmine's got a plan: she's only working in the mailroom until she has enough money saved to move back home to Vermont, take care of her father, and build her own music studio on the family farm.Īll the boys want to get with her, but Jasmine's not havin' it.

Jasmine's only 19 years old, but she's the manager of the mailroom at Sandoval and Holmes.

Marcelo in the real world