The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri Essay

Throughout the novel The Namesake you see the similarities and the differences between Gogol and Ashoke. Ashoke is born in India and he has made himself an educated man, he has also worked hard for his family to provide for them and show them how to succeed in America. Gogol is Ashoke’s son, Gogol has some hard times trying to figure out who he is as a person and who he wants to be. Both father and son seem to be so different on the surface when really, deep down they are so much alike.

In order to find his identity he went against his parent’s wishes in attending Columbia, but instead attending Yale. But before he set off for college he went through the legal process of changing his name. To his surprise it was a very mechanical task. His reasoning to the judge for the change “I hate the name Gogol, “he says I’ve always hated it.” “Very well”, the judge says stamping and signing the form, then returning it to the clerk. He is told the notice of the new name must be given to all other agencies, and that it’s his responsibility to notify the Registry of Motor Vehicles, banks, schools” (102). Although the moment in the courtroom was not as momentous as he had imagined, he stepped in there as Gogol Gangouli and left as Nikhil Gangouli in twenty minutes. A moment he waited eighteen years for finally arrived. Now that he is free of his parents and his old name, he can now be confident, especially with women in introducing himself without anticipating unwelcomed questions about his name.

Difficult choices come and go from our life. Like trying to understand who you are as a person and where you come from. In the book The Namesake, a boy named Gogol grows up in a cultural Bengali family while living in a different country with different customs. Gogol is special because he is trying to balance the two cultures. Gogol tries to understand and learn his family's culture but tends to pick and choose things from each culture to fit his lifestyle. His response to his cultural collision is very unique. From this cultural collision Gogol question himself and his life decisions.

Lahiri writes about the story of Gogol Ganguli, who confronts his desires in life while struggling with conflicts regarding his name and issues with his parents’ expectations, all affecting Gogol’s searches for his identity.

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.

In the Namesake, the new parents are faced with a decision to name their son. A tradition where the Grandmother on the Mothers’ side names the baby. Ashima’s Grandmother was sending word about the baby’s name from India. After not hearing from the Grandmother, a proper name

The death of Gogol’s father is the point at which Gogol hits a turning point and this is clearly seen through the changes in his relationships particularly between Maxine and his own family. Before the death of his father, his relationship with Maxine is healthy and even thriving. “From the very beginning he feels

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

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 he moved into college, he has changed every document that contains his name into containing the name Nikhil. As he starts to meet new people, he tried to hide his old name and uses Nikhil:

Gogol was displease with the name because it didn 't sound American at all, so he decided to change it to Nick. The more he realized his name, Gogol, sounded strange the more he developed a hatred towards the name eventually never owning that title again. In the novel the author writes, “ He hates that his name is both absurd and obscure, that it has nothing to do with who he is, that it is neither Indian nor American but of all things Russian” (Lahiri 40). As a young boy he is stuck with this name until he becomes the legal age to legally change his name to Nikhil. This is his first process of transforming more into being American. Not only that but this is the beginning of the process

As identity becomes the core issue, Gogol’s name becomes quite significant. As a child, Gogol is used to the name Gogol so that when his parents ask his good name ‘Nikhil’ to be his official name when he starts schooling, he is reluctant to accept the new name. Lahiri states that “he

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 Namesake uses symbolism to show the difference between American and Bengali ways. This is shown by the use of Gogol’s name when his parents can’t name him, “’But sir,’ Ashima protests, ‘we can’t possibly name him ourselves’…’We are waiting for a letter,’ Ashoke says, explaining the situation in detail… You will, of course, be required to amend the permanent record…” (Lahiri, 27). Gogol’s name is a symbol that shows the families

The novel The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the struggle and hardships of a Bengali couple who immigrate to the US from India to create a lifestyle outside of everything they have known all their lives. The story begins as Ashoke marries Ashima and brings her to the Massachusetts. Their first child’s name is Gogol, which they didn’t intend on naming initially but because of different mistakes, Gogol has officially become his name. This book/film gave a pleasant insight into identity