Analysis Of Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake'

reinforces to Gogol that his name is a factor in his identity and how others perceive him.

Who doesn’t know him. His parents tell him that they each have two names, too,as do all their Bengali friends in America, and all their relatives in Calcutta. It’s part of growing up, they tell him, part of being a Bengali...”(Lahiri,57). Consequently, this makes Gogol even more confused about the real identity of himself. Later on in the story, Gogol has to decide about the future of his pet name of “Gogol”. Gogol explains this thinking in this quote, “ without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives,Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist. Yet the thought of this eventual demise provides no sense of victory, no solace. It provides no solace at all.”(Lahiri,289). Gogol thinks

Once an individual realizes that life is giving him a second chance, he transforms into a new breed of a man; there is an innovation of ideas that arise in him as he realizes that there is no correlation between being safe and staying alive. Ashoke Ganguli becomes a new man after miraculously surviving a train accident on his way to visit his recently blinded grandfather, who was awaiting for his grandchild to give him more books, his getaways from the real world. Moreover, the train accident became the defining moment of Ashoke Ganguli as his love for fiction books became nothing more than a former hobby. The train accident stirred the callow man’s dormant dreams, as he realized that his life is not secured. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The

Gogol grapples with his name throughout the majority of the novel, yet this tension was in the makings even before his birth. Ashoke and Ashima being immigrants set Gogol up to live in two different cultures, American and Bengali. Many children of immigrants may feel like Gogol, having one foot in each world. Gogol framed his struggle with cultural identity through something tangible, his name. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, Gogol’s struggle with cultural identity is exposed most greatly by the name others call him and his reaction to it.

to America with grace and compassion. This story by Jhumpa Lahiri, is an allegory establishing an identity with using symbolic meaning between two cultures that intersect. The themes throughout the story refer to immigrant experiences, the conflict of cultures, the contrast of assimilation and the connection between generations. The Namesake, opens the worlds of emotions Ashima experiences, while straddling her two worlds. This story of identity allows readers to travel with Ashima on an intimate journey through her life as an immigrant.

After the initial rejection of his name at a party, Gogol has decided to legally change his name. This change is driven by the character’s disgust at the name his parents had given him, although it is he that had rejected being called Nikhil in kindergarten. The name Gogol comes to represent two very different things to his father Ashoke, and Gogol. To Ashoke, the name represents his life being saved the fateful night of the train derailment. As Caesar writes, “To Ashoke, the name Gogol is...a reminder of the way in which the reading of [Nikolai] Gogol’s short story saved his life…” (108). To Gogol Ganguli, the name simply reminds him of a strange and sad writer he learned about in English class, with no meaningful representation in his own life. Gogol is frustrated that his parents named him something so silly, especially since it is not even a Bengali name. As Gogol stands before the judge, he is asked why he wishes to change his name, to which he responds, “I hate the name Gogol...I’ve always hated it ” (Lahiri 102) His rejection of the name Gogol allows him to escape the identity placed upon him by his parents. Although Nikhil is an Indian name, it enables him to try on a new and more sophisticated identity. The one by which he has his first kiss, his admissions to college, and subsequently the relationships that

Most people use the phrase,“ home is where the heart is” to describe a home, but without a heart in it you're lost in a world looking for it. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, Gogol is a guy who’s divided between two worlds: his American life and fitting in like a regular everyday American guy, and his family's traditional heritage lifestyle. Along with ...While Gogol refers to home in more than one location along with his relationship with women are relevant to help him search what he is lacking in his life and finding the right place for him is where he wishes not to remember of Pemberton road.

After his divorce, which is a second difficult experience in his life, Gogol spends time with his family, specifically at a party his mother is hosting before she leaves for India, which again influences him to accept his Bengali culture. At this party, Gogol explores his old house and finds the copy of The Overcoat that his father once gave to him, which makes him realize that “without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist” (Lahiri 433). In college and when he was Maxine, going by Nikhil gives Gogol a newfound perspective in his life, one where being shameful of his name does not really exist. However, after going through both his father’s death and his divorce, Gogol feels upset when thinking about how he changed his name, which “provides no solace at all” (433). With most of his family and Moushumi gone, few people are left to call him Gogol, reminding him who he once was. Gogol’s sadness shows how he has become comfortable with his birth name, which he originally hated. Through his reading of The Overcoat and his reflection on the possible nonexistence of his life as Gogol, Gogol accepts both his name and his culture, which ultimately shows how he becomes comfortable with

As Gogol grows, he begins to hate his name as Gogol, and requests to change his name to Nikhil. ""What is the reason you want to change your name, Mr. Ganguli?" the judge asks. … "I hate the name Gogol," he says. "I always hated it."" (p.101-102) as Gogol brings up this topic to discuss during dinner befor he changes his name in the summer, Gogol claims that because he is an Indian with a Russian name in America, nobody is taking him seriously, thrust requesting to change his name into Nikhil, even if it makes a huge hassle to change his legal documents. With out the question of his rare name and confusion of the choice, Gogol accepts himself more easier and believes that he has become more Americanized. Gogol sees himself more Americanized as people do while he attends parties and other group activities in his social circle.

Intergenerational conflicts mainly involves in the process of searching identity in a new country. In The Namesake, it seems like the major part of the book is about Gogol’s identity formation and confusion. In fact, Ashima is also part of the process of forming American identity. One of the significant incident is the name-changing process of Gogol. At first, we can see how Gangulis’ parents Ashima and Ashoke are “still proudly and deeply entrenched in their Indian heritage” (Bhattacharyya 77), when they were asked to name their baby after themselves or one of the ancestors. They think “This tradition doesn’t exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother. This sign of respect in America and Europe, this symbol of heritage and lineage, would be ridiculed in India” (The Namesake 28). But later when Gogol ask to change the name, his parents agrees either because becomes accepting individualism or doesn’t want to explain why they name Gogol at the very first place. This explains how much Gogol wants to possess a new identity beyond his parents’ traditional norms.

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake, Moushumi Mazoomdar is a Bengali-American woman who marries Nikhil Ganguli, a main character. Like Nikhil, she struggles with her cultural identity and the expectations that are associated with each of the cultures that “claim” her. Moushumi is a second generation Bengali-American who feels that her Bengali and American cultures are not reconcilable. Lahiri expresses this tension when first introducing Moushumi: Nikhil’s mother identifies her by discussing her broken engagement to an American man, and as a reaction to this failed relationship, she is set up with Nikhil, another Bengali-American (Lahiri 192). The Moushumi that Nikhil re-connects with, dates, and eventually marries has undergone a significant transformation in her appearance and personality. The Moushumi that Nikhil had encountered in his family’s Bengali social circles was an obedient daughter who took piano lessons, wore lace-collar shirts, and carried extra weight (Lahiri 214). However, through college and adult life, Moushumi forged a separate identity. She became exotic, confident, and daring, with “pleasingly feline features” that reflect the change (Lahiri 193). Moushumi’s need to break from her “the two countries that could claim her” led her to form a new identity characterized by her striving to achieve immersion in another culture, upper-class cosmopolitanism, and romantic success, but Lahiri portrays the rejection of her cultures as a contributor to Moushumi’s

Gogol Ganguli, in The Namesake, is the son of two Bengali parents. Throughout the novel, Gogol shows several acts of betrayal mainly to his family and their values. One such act is when Gogol changes his name out of irritation. He is constantly questioned its meaning and finding it out that it is not a Bengali name. He expresses his feelings to his parents, but they do not understand because they still have the Indian tradition/Culture in them and so he changes his name. Another act of betrayal is when Gogol lies to his mother about visiting their home when dating a woman. He does not prefer the Bengali way of life and makes excuses, he loves the life of the American way. These acts of betrayal affect Gogol and force him to make decisions that he eventually regrets, but it does play a vital role in the development of his life in the novel as a whole.

He loses his virginity by using the name Nikhil, and that name has lead him to meet and have relationships with multiple women (Ruth, Maxine, Bridget and Moushumi). Even after making all determinations to erase his past, his failure to declare his identity is seen in his relationship with women. He lawfully changes his name to Nikhil before he leaves for college. The name Nikhil goes on to represent his individuality and separation from his parents. It also signifies him accepting American culture and distancing away from Indian culture. The twist comes into play when people starting calling him Nikhil and he gets startled. He likes the name Nikhil better, but he does not feel like Nikhil. On the inside, he feels like Gogol, no matter how much he dislikes the name. This adds to the controversy of his identity: is he Gogol or Nikhil. On the other hand, he is a mix of both: Gogol by day and Nikhil by night.

The author Jhumpa Lahiri shows how much Gogol has developed and matured throughout the course of the novel. From the the beginning of The Namesake to the end, Gogol is shown developing intellectually. Gogol intellectually improves himself by allowing himself to be more acquainted with his name and identity which gogol prefers to be referred to as. In the third chapter of The Namesake, Gogol takes on one of his first challenges when Gogol is introduced to his first year school. Gogol is perturbed when he finds out that Ashok and Ashima were allowing the other children to call Gogol by his “good name,” Nikhil instead of Original name Gogol. Although, Gogol had never had someone refer to him by anything other than Gogol throughout his entire life, Gogol is perplexed as to why he is being referred to by two names. The Principal of the school refers to him as “Nikhil” in a conversation, Gogol chooses not to respond. As Gogol is in the office with Mrs.Lapidus Ashok says “Go on Gogol”. In doing so Ashoke bagans to worry that by doing so Mrs.lapidus would began to catch on, however,

The important themes of name and identity are very evident in Chapter 3. The chapter contains when Gogol firsts starts kindergarten. Ashima and Ashoke wanted him to go by "Gogol" at home but "Nikhil" at school. However this then leads to confusing him and he has no interest in another name. He considers that depending on where he is he may need to be two different people then leading to him having two different names. "He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn't know. Who doesn't know him." (Lahiri ). During his adolescent years Gogol connects a new identity with having a new name. His unusual name does not bother him until he turns eleven and he attends a class trip to a cemetery which is when he uncovers that his name is special. Some of the other gravestones have names he has never heard before so he makes rubbings of them because he