Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri

involve their children in their native customs and traditions, and instill the values of the home country in their children. However, children are more interested in learning about the country they reside in and assimilating to that culture. This is so that they can fit in with their peers. The pressure to fit in among their peers, especially as a minority growing up in the United States, can place great strain on the children. Often times what is normal in one culture is deemed as strange in another. The children must then decide which culture they want to partake in or learn how to separate the two. In the novel, The Namesake, Gogol Ganguli faces a similar first generation immigrant child identity crisis. The author, Jhumpa Lahiri, emphasizes

Shortly after Gogol’s birth, his mother, Ashima, lamented that she could not help but pity her son, for “she has never known of a person entering the world so alone, so deprived” (16). Although Ashima was referring to the fact that Gogol has no family surrounding him, unbeknownst to her, these words set the precedent for Gogol’s life. As Gogol grows up, he begins to resent his name and wishes for a “normal” name. To him, “(the name) Gogol sounds ludicrous to his ears, lacking dignity or gravity” (40). He wants to acquaint himself with the American lifestyle. The first time he goes by Nikhil, he develops a new sense of self and a newfound confidence. When Gogol officially changes his name to Nikhil, he states that he hates his name for being both “absurd and obscure” as well as the fact that “it has nothing to do with who he is, that it is neither Indian nor American but of all things Russian” (39). One would expect Gogol to change his name with the intent to become more connected with his Indian roots, instead Gogol begins distancing himself from his family and his Bengali heritage. He dislikes everything that reminds him of his past and culture and tries to establish a barrier between his old life as Gogol and his new life as Nikhil. However, it proves to be more difficult than he anticipated. Gogol tries to assimilate in American

After his father’s death and another failed relationship, he realizes that the reason that he was never able to “fully reinvent himself” after the name Gogol “defined and distressed him for years” was because of these events were meant to prevail in the end. These events allowed him to become who he is today and accomplish what he has (139). He learns that he cannot abandon or diminish the importance of both his Bengali culture and American culture, rather he must learn how to combine and embrace the two. He realizes that his identity is cultivated and embellished by both cultures, thus he must celebrate them both. By the end of the novel, he realizes 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” (141). Although this was what he wanted since he was a child, “the thought of this eventual demise provides no sense of victory, no solace (for him)” (141). It takes him some time, but Gogol finally understands the significance of his name and his identity and just how special they both are. Gogol begins to develop a sense of self as he begins to truly accept his name and acknowledges his Indian heritage and