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Life For Immigrant Parents

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Life for Immigrant Parents vs. Life for Immigrant Children in The Namesake

Life is a luxury for certain immigrant parents, although a bearer of burden for the descendents who are raised in foreign countries. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, the main character, Gogol, is shown to have gone through the process of assimilation before he realizes the mistakes he made in his early life. While an apparent discrepancy is portrayed specifically between Gogol and his parents, life for the children of immigrants is quite difficult; primarily a result of their parents' decisions, the clash between foreign culture and customary practices from back home, and regretful flashbacks after a tragedy.

Parents’ decisions should compose the majority of our personality, essentially our life …show more content…

Ashoke and Ashima are quite tense as they find out that the letter from Ashima's grandmother hasn't come as of yet "and so [they agree] to put off the decision of what to name the baby until the letter comes, ignoring the forms from the hospital about filing for a birth certificate" (Lahiri 25). If it weren't for the customary duties, Ashoke and Ashima would have put an Indian name on Gogol that he would not regard as strange like he did when he became older. The fact of the matter is that Gogol is too young to understand his parents' circumstances at that time. Not to mention that Gogol doesn't respect his culture and customs in the sense that he doesn't feel that love for it which is very expected from a child who is raised in a foreign country. Like Gogol, Ashoke and Ashima are

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Many people are exposed to different cultures throughout their lifetime and inherit various traditions and beliefs from these interactions. However, the addition of another culture distances a person from their original identity, one of the most important themes of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake. This theme is introduced at the very beginning of the novel when Gogol Ganguli is made aware of the American culture at a very young age. In addition, he tries to balance out both cultures without offending or hurting his parents. However, just like many people he struggles to fit into the American culture because he is still holding onto his Bengali past.

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consider it as another country. They celebrate Hallow in or Christmas but because of their children. Their food on such occasions is all the time Indian. But the second generations like Gogol and Sonia are affected psychologically. Gogol’s acceptance of his Indian-American identity is reflected in his gradual acceptance of his name and its history.

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Throughout the story The Namesake, the protagonist Gogol Ganguli, or otherwise known at Nikhil, has a seriously tough time with finding his true identity. In the beginning of the story, the Ganguli’s give birth to their first child, an exciting moment that could only be celebrated by three of their Bengali friends, due to being living in America. Due to their being no telephone contact with their family in Calcutta, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli wait in the hospital for three extra days waiting on a letter send from the grandmother, containing the contents of their new born baby’s name. The letter never arrives, so now what? They decide on naming their child “Gogol” after Nikolai Gogol the author of the book that saved Ashoke’s life in a near death

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Gogol’s lack of an ordinary cultural background shapes his view of the word “home” throughout the entire novel, The Namesake. From America to India and all around, he’s never quite sure where he belongs. In one part of his mind, he knows his family ties in India play an important role in his personal and family life. On the other hand, he spent much of his childhood learning and growing accustomed to American traditions. Through internal conflicts and multiple relationships, his definition of ‘home’ can be seen changing with each chapter.

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In “the namesake”, chapters 3 and 4 show how Gogol develops from a child attached to his family, in particular, his mother, to a teenager that often rejects his parents and their culture. This is most dramatically seen on his first day of Kindergarten, when he rejects his “good name”’ Nikhil, because he wants to be called the name his parents call him at home, and at the end of chapter 4 when he is so fed up with the name Gogol that he lies at the college party, telling Kim his name is Nikhil. Gogol changed a lot over the course of chapters 3 and 4. The major change is his relationship to his name. At the beginning, he hated the name “Nikhil” so much that he doesn’t want to go to kindergarten because he won’t be called Gogol and instead, being called by his new name, Nikhil (Lahiri, 56).

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The Namesake is a fictional novel on an Indian boy's life written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The main character is Gogol Ganguli with his family Ashoke, Ashima, and Sonia Ganguli. Gogol throughout the whole book wanted to figure out his identity in the world. His family wanted him to live the lifestyle of his original heritage with his pet name Gogol, but the world outside of his family wanted him to live like an American with a normal name. His life had many problems including his name, significant relationships with females in and out of his life, as well as, a death in his family.

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Gogol is a strange name, but that strangeness does not define who he is. “The Namesake” is about a boy who has foreign parents and a peculiar name, but he learns that what he is called is not who he is as a person and that it is okay that his name is out of the ordinary. In “The Namesake,” Jhumpa Lahiri establishes the theme that it is okay to be different through family traditions, relationships with others, and experiences. Gogol and his family have some traditions that explain the peculiarity of his name. This can first be seen when he gets told that he was named after a Russian author.

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