The Namesake Sparknotes

Gogol gains much of his freedom during his time at Yale. His migration allows him to have a chance to explore his

They have never been on a date in their lives and therefore they see no reason to encourage Gogol, certainly not at his age." Both of Gogol's parents grew up learning the Bengali culture. They know that living in another country may change some of their traditions, but they still want to withhold the culture as much as possible. Nevertheless, Gogol doesn't so much care for his Bengali culture because it is now affecting his life. Gogol's relationships have been affected by his cultural collision, "His relationship with her is one accomplishment in his life about which they are not in the least bit proud or pleased... He wishes his parents could simply accept her as her family accepts him, without pressure of any kind." Both Gogol and his parents have been brought up differently about things. Because they don't see eye to eye their relationship isn't like it used to be. Now that Gogol is growing up, his diverse traditions are affecting his life with his girlfriend and his family. All of Gogol's life is not being afflicted because Gogol has stopped continuing the Bengali culture. It is just grasping the American culture more than he did in the past.

The reader is convinced that Gogol has had many experiences of his name being said with hesitation and lack of ease that normal American names are pronounced with. Gogol must often compare himself to his peers via how teachers and other authorities handle his unique name. Furthermore, Gogol himself is consumed with doubt in regards to his name, what it means, and how it ties him to his heritage in a way he in unsure how to accept. However pleased Gogol may have been with Mr. Lawson’s approach, everything changes when the class reads “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol. “With growing dread and a feeling of slight nausea, he watches as Mr. Lawson distributes the books...the sight of it [“Gogol”] printed in capital letters on the crinkly page upsets him viscerally” (89). Gogol wants nothing to do with his name at this point, even the book it is printed in is “particularly battered, the corner blunted, the cover spotted as if by a whitish mold,” (89). The confusion Gogol associates with his own name infects him and things around him, just like the “warmth [that] spreads from the back of Gogol’s neck to his cheeks and his ears,” (91). The rest of his classmates, “begin to moan in unison,” (92), and Gogol “feels betrayed,” (91). Gogol takes the class’s negative reaction to the Russian author’s biographical information as a personal assault. It reinforces his rejection to his own name as “each time the name

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 becoming Nikhil to the outside world, Gogol struggles to find his identity after rejecting the one his parents gave him. On the weekend trip home, he meets a girl named Ruth, whom he then begins a relationship with. While he likes Ruth a lot, he never introduces her to his parents. This is most likely because he knows they would not approve of her, nor is he sure of himself because of his identity creation through Ruth. As Song writes, “His first girlfriend Ruth...suggests a particular version of American identity, one forged in the progressive counter-culture formations of the 1960s, into which Gogol might merge” (357). Furthermore, Ruth represents an American identity that Gogol lays hold of and seeks to embrace. After dating for a while, Ruth goes to study abroad at Oxford and after returning, their relationship begins to fall apart and they breakup. His head-over-heels style in which he forms relationships leaves him very open to becoming disheartened after his relationships

. The relationship between Moushumi and Gogol is driven by Moushumi’s desire which is greater even than Gogol’s own, to confirm to a certain image of a modern American. She and Gogol never seem to relax into the idea that they might find their identity in one another and visit to dinner parties with her friends in Brooklyn where Gogol feels awkward and uncomfortable. And this signal a division between them. Moushomi’s dissatisfaction with the marriage eventually leads to her unfaithfulness towards her husband which later leads to divorce and separation between them. Their need of independence and satisfaction is much greater than their sense of loyalty or commitment to each other and find their identity.

The Troubled Man Louie Zamperini a name that should go down in history. Louie could run a mile in 4:07.9 (indoors). He survived 47 days lost at sea, on a raft with 2 other people. He also survived 4 POW camps. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Louie Zamperini appears to be very determined and resourceful.

Yet Moushumi is the only one who is involved with his family and can fully understand Gogol. He looks for ways to escape the pieces in his life that he dislikes which makes him seem eccentric to the rest of the society he lives in. While Moushumis relationship is imperative with Gogol, Maxine gives him closure, the ability to experience the life he may actually have wanted to grow up in America, while it lasts, ”Quickly, he falls in love with Maxine, the house, and Gerald and Lydia's manner of living, for to know her and love her is to know and love all these things. He loves the mess that surrounds her Maxine, her hundreds of things always covering her floor and her bedside table, her habit when they are alone on the fifth floor, of not shutting the door when she goes to the bathroom. Her unkempt ways, a challenge to his increasingly minimalist taste, charm him”(137). The author utilizes an ample amount of detail in this passage to describe what he loves about his relationship and what lured him to Maxine even more; however, I feel Gogol admires this part about his relationship with Maxine because her lifestyle is not as strict as his or Moushumi’s. This girl had a great amount of freedom and he embraced what he didn’t and couldn’t like he does with her and her family have in his

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

""is Gogol your first name or your last?" Brandon wants to know…. "actually, that's my middle name," Gogol says by way of explanation, sitting with them in the common room to their suite. "Nikhil is my first name. It got left out for some reason." (p.103)

In light of Gogol’s parent’s cultural roots and norms it is difficult foreign born Americans to assimilate into a new society. Gogol’s sudden change in “normal” can be traumatic discouraging for him to conform into what is “normal” in America. “The New World offers professional opportunity and financial betterment but also insists on assimilation and acculturation, a rejection of old habits, traditions and conditioning, and a merging with the culture of the new context […] invited to experience the death of the self as he has known it. He is asked to despise home culture which is seen by the New World as inferior, as less

This can be shown when Gogol’s in Maxine’s house in New Hampshire and Pamela says “But you’re Indian… I’d think the climate wouldn’t affect you, given your heritage” (157). People don’t seem him as American, which alienates him and causes him to put a wall between his past and his present. With the adoption of the name ‘Nikhil’, he can live only in the present but he cannot forget his old name. Subconsciously, he is still Gogol and so he does not respond immediately when he is addressed as Nikhil. He tries to become an entirely different person from what really he is. As Nikhil, he embodies the AmericnGogol struggles to carry the burden of two names. Nikhil resembles American names, yet ‘Gogol’ and his past follow him everywhere. Gogol is an outsider in American society whereas he does not feel intimacy with Bengali

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,

Gogol’s Parents, Ashima and Ashoke, gave him a name to add meaning and purpose to his life. The meaning is shown through Ashoke giving his son a name that represents hope for a better life and second chances yet it also represents tragedy. Nikolai Gogol, at the scene of Ashoke’s train wreck has passed away and this has a connection with Gogol’s life. When looking at his life it seems to be filled with confusion, disappointments, and dead-ends (Such as?) as he struggles to figure out whom he is and where he believes the curse of his namesake will lead him next.

A major turning point in his life was when his dad died. He realized life was short and he no longer wanted to be apart from his family. However, he is still with Maxine, a self centered and jealous girl. Despite his father’s passing, Maxine still wants Gogol to go on vacation with her for New Years. Gogol is not quite ready to leave his family so soon and replies, “I don’t want to get away” (Lahiri 182). This shows how Gogol’s priorities are changing. Before, he would have never thought twice about accepting Maxine’s invitation, but now he wants time to think and appreciate the moments he lost. This quote is placed by the artery that connects the two halves of the heart to represent his transition from spending his life immersed in romantic love to spending as much time as possible with his family. Gogol has many fond memories of his dad from when he was a kid. He remembers the time when he and his father walked all the way out to a lighthouse at the beach, while his mother stayed back with Sonia who was too young to come along. It was a moment shared between only him and his father and archived in only their minds. There was no picture taken to capture that moment. His father, wanting Gogol to remember this well into adulthood said, “Remember that you and I made this journey together to a place where there was nowhere