Once Upon A Time And The Brumer Analysis

Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents, and believing that no one should have poorer life chances because of where, what or whom they were born, what they believe, or whether they have a disability. Throughout America’s history, the idea of equality has been apparent in The Declaration of Independence, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. However, equality is also shown in many other ways, including “Once Upon a Time”, by Nadine Gordimer and The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. These two stories show different cultures clashing and the characters working to find their identities in society. Authors Nadine Gordimer and Jhumpa Lahiri symbolically used the act

While remaining quiet and scared, Nadine Gordimer began to tell herself a bedtime story. This bedtime story was about a husband, a wife, and a little boy that all live in a wealthy suburban home with everything they had ever wanted; however, the family began to worry about their safety concerning the riots and burglaries that were taking place outside the city from people of a different race. To show equality, Nadine Gordimer states in her short story “Once Upon a Time”, “There were riots, but these were outside the city, where people of another color were quartered” (Gordimer 13, lines 77-78). This represents equality by how the “people of another color” were not equal in society. Everyone was quickly getting more concerned over the people of another race that they thought their safety was the only thing that mattered, so the parents started taking precautions to keep their family safe from the riots. This was an example of equality. To illustrate, “Once Upon a Time”, by Nadine Gordimer says, “So from every window and door in the house where they were living happily ever after they now saw the trees and the sky through bars” (Gordimer 13, lines 93-95). The symbol of these precautions showed the fear that the parents possessed for these colored people that grew unreasonably and excessively throughout the rest of the short

However, his name was not originally supposed to be Gogol. He was supposed to get a good Bengali name sent in a letter to Ashoke and Ashima, Gogol’s parents, from his grandmother, but the letter never arrived. So, throughout Gogol’s life, he is forced to live with this pet name turned into a good name that he does not like. To further explain, Jhumpa Lahiri says in The Namesake, “At times he wishes he could disguise it, shorten it somehow, the way the other Indian boy in his school, Jayadev, had gotten people to call him Jay” (Lahiri 76). This represents equality by how Gogol wishes he could be like the other children at school; he feels like a cultural outsider with his odd name that is neither Bengali nor American. Gogol just wants to be equal to everyone else. To do so, after high school he got his parents’ permission to legally change his name to Nikhil, the name that was supposed to be his good name in the first place, so that he could fit in. To illustrate, Jhumpa Lahiri states in The Namesake that the judge asks, “What is the reason you wish to change your name, Mr. Ganguli?...I hate the name Gogol….I’ve always hated it” (Lahiri 101-102). This shows the symbol of equality when Gogol decides to change his name to Nikhil to fit into society and gives the judge a reason to change his