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Gogol's Struggle For Identity

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One’s past does not necessarily determine the course of his/her life but it cannot be said that it does not affect it profoundly. This is certainly the case for the children of the Ganguli family whose memories of their Bengali origins and multi-cultural upbringing heavily influence all aspects of their lives both socially and professionally. Their parents Ashoke and Ashima were both acutely aware of how disparate their culture is compared to that of America. For this reason struggled to maintain certain Indian traditions, while adapting to American customs, such as Christmas, solely for the sake of their children. However it is precisely the memories of this bicultural upbringing that cause both children’s colossal struggle for identity, heavily influencing both to take steps later on in life distancing themselves from either one so as to have a single cultural identity. Both children demonstrate significant character development when attempting to imbibe …show more content…

Most affected by the constant shift in cultural affiliation and re-fashioning of family structure is the protagonist Gogol who from a very young age felt isolated due to the uniqueness and peculiarity of his name . It is this confusion in cultural affiliation that causes the evolution of Gogol’s polyvalent identity. His past feelings of isolation and early memories of disconnection engender in him an innate and fervent fear of solitude only exasperbated by his phobia of the culturally distancing effect of his name on Americans. His name and its place in defining his Bengali upbringing and heritage is what directly influences Gogol to change his name upon turning 18 in an attempt to forsake his Bengali past. To further distance himself from his “shameful” and “embarrassing” past he not only

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Gogol, the son of Ashima and Ashoke, was born in America and spends the first half of his life trying to run away from his Bengali roots. Although Gogol does not feel as lost and detached as his parents in America, he has a difficult time trying to balance the Bengali culture he was born into as well as the American culture he sees and experiences all around him as he is growing up. Throughout the novel, The Namesake, Gogol struggles to develop his identity due to the clashing of Bengali and American culture in his life. Gogol’s first obstacle in his search for self-identity occurs only a couple days after his birth, when his parents must decide on a name in order to be released from the hospital. Ashima and Ashoke eventually decide on Gogol, after the writer who saved Ashoke’s life during a train crash.

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In The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Lahiri uses Gogol’s decision to mark a change his name as a turning point in his life and personality. When he considers his current circumstances, he thinks: “Other boys his age have begun to court girls already, asking them to go to the movies or the pizza parlor, but he cannot imagine saying, ‘Hi, it’s Gogol’ under potentially romantic circumstances. He cannot imagine this at all” (76). While his name is Gogol, Gogol feels uncomfortable and shy about his name. Not only does it not assist him in defining his identity—it is not Indian or American—no one else has the same name as him.

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In conclusion, a name is very important for someone because it defines oneself and from where you come from. At the end of the novel, Gogol comes to terms with himself being Indian-American, having the name Gogol and being a part of the Bengali culture. He doesn’t try to ignore the Bengali culture because he did marry a women from Bengali, but eventually divorced her. I think that the author is trying to tell us that finding one 's identity is an ongoing process; that one could never fully reinvent themselves because a person’s identity comes from what is inside of you and the people and society you are surrounded by. “The man who gave you his name, from the man who gave you your name.”

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The importance hidden in the change of name is the symbol in relation to the Indian culture as well as the importance of the name to his father, Ashoke. In the Bengali life in Western Society, Gogol’s act of name changing symbolizes failure and betrayal of an older son’s role of maintaining respect and honor along the family’s history and unable to meet his parent’s expectation. Therefore, implicating that the freedom which Gogol has familiarized with is more common amongst the American culture. Additionally, Gogol does not understand the emotional significance hidden in his name, and the sadness that his father possesses after finding out of his name change, soon after his college transition at Yale. Even more, after an important book titled “Nikolai Gogol” that Ashoke gifts Gogol during his birthday, where Gogol comes off as careless and sees no value behind his father’s

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However, as time passes, they begin to nurture a love for each other. This is only the beginning of a series of relationships in “The Namesake.” The primary one, centers on Gogol and his tight relationship between his Indian-cultured parents. At first, Gogol is completely in disgust at his parents and their background. This is evident during the beginning of their trip to India.

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As Gogol begins to grow up in America his attitude towards his name starts to change. The novel begins with Gogol feeling very uncomfortable with being called Nikhil on his first day of school. “It is very common for a child to be confused at first. Please

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It is for this reason that Pinney, suggested that, identity build up is the most fundamental objective of a person 's adolescence, and "those who fail to achieve a secure identity are faced with identity confusion, a lack of clarity about who they are and what their role is in life” (Pinney, 1993). This brings out the fact that identity builds up and understanding is an inevitable and unexplainable. An understanding of identity an important aspect of crosses cultural communication, because it will help provide a guideline for communication interaction with others who have different cultural identity (Samorava , Porter, & McDaniel, 2009, p.

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