The House Of Stone Analysis

It is difficult to believe that an Indian American teenager and an older Lebanese male can share similarities. Although, Gogol Ganguli from the film the Namesake and Anthony Shadid from the memoir, The House of Stone share several similarities. Unfamiliar with the Indian culture, Gogol is challenged by both the mainstream America and Indian heritage. In comparison to Gogol, Shadid’s case deals with familiarizing himself into a Lebanese culture while trying to maintain an American identity. Both works are similar in that the protagonists, Gogol Ganguli and Anthony Shadid are faced with difficulties while assimilating into a new culture which enhances their ability to become bicultural. On the other hand, both works differ r in that Gogal intent

Gogol’s father Ashoke and mother Ashima struggle as first generation immigrants when faced with racial and cultural dissimilarities in the United States. After realizing that he doesn’t have a Bengali name, he begins to have mixed feelings about it, wanting to abandon his Bengali culture and family history. To add, during Gogol’s high school years, he is enraged after constant mocking and bullying because of his un-American name. As a result, he legally changes his name to Nikhil (Nick for Short), where it evokes that his identity torn between the American and Indian culture. He is very skeptical about his name being Gogol, reiterating in a scene to his mother that “this is America ma,” therefore his ability of being able to change his ways and societal standards of living (Lahiri). 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