How Does The Namesake Reflect An American Culture

This excerpt of The Namesake describes the apartment that Moushumi and Gogol purchase together. Utilizing vivid imagery, Lahiri illustrates the elegant and high-end one-bedroom apartment with a view that the couple now owns. They purchase knock-off Noguchi lamps to further the facade of their adopted American culture and attempt to appear wealthier than they are, as authentic Noguchi lamps cost thousands of dollars. The apartment, though ornately decorated, predominantly reflects an American culture through its Ikea furnished interior which leaves the couples’ parents both “impressed and puzzled” (228). Furthermore, the parents expected a larger apartment because they assume Moushumi and Gogol will soon have children together and grow their new family.

In addition to their differing choices in married life, Moushumi and Gogol lived a vastly different lifestyle than their parents, one of “mixing martinis in a stainless steel shaker” (288) instead of the extravagant Bengali parties with the copious amounts of food that Ashima once threw with Ashoke. The distinct furnishing style of their apartment and different style of living highlights and broadens the gap between the first generation and second generation immigrants to America. While the first generation immigrants, Ashoke and Ashima, struggled greatly to adapt to the vastly different lifestyle of America and fondly missed their life in India, the second generation raised in America, Moushumi and Gogol, resented their culture and both sought to adopt the coveted American culture. Throughout the novel, Lahiri focuses on the disparities between the two generations and the resulting tensions and complications amongst