The Namesake

Cultivation of Cultural Identity The film, The Namesake, directed by Mira Nair, suggests that everyone has a cultural identity, whether they ignore or embrace it. Gogol Ganguli initially wants to abandon his family’s traditions and adopt American customs since he was born in America. Soon he learns that his name has a very emotional meaning to his father. Because of his new knowledge of the significance of his name, he begins to enter a transformation where he accepts and loves his culture. Throughout the film, Gogol has an internal conflict with himself when, on one side, he has his Indian culture, and on the other, he has the American culture he has always wanted to belong to. Although some people think that cultural identity is destined

His father’s death is a call to action for Gogol to embrace his cultural identity wholeheartedly. Next, a jump cut cuts to him shaving his hair off. Cutting one’s hair is indicative of a change or shedding of their skin (his original, American identity). Additionally, we see a flashback of the younger Gogol watching his father shave all of his hair away as well. Therefore, viewers assume that Gogol is following in his father’s footsteps and literally trying to fill his shoes. In these scenes, Gogol emulates his dad’s actions and essentially becomes a new person. Another example is when Gogol finds the sacred book for which he is named after, and a flashback shows the teenage Gogol with his father standing in his doorway which has hanging beads. During this scene, Ashoke talks to Gogol about the book, yet it seems to fall upon deaf ears. The sound of the beads clanging together is much louder and slower than usual. This manipulation of sound enhances the viewers’ emotional response like Gogol does when the sound resonates with him in a somber manner after the flashback. Another element of sound represented in this film is the repetition of music. In the beginning, Ashima hummed as she did in the ending scene where she finally achieved her dream of singing. Gogol solely listened to American music during his teenage years instead of

Gogol pushed away his identity because he felt that it had been forced on him. Plus, he was bullied at school because of it. He struggled with the person he wanted to be and the one who his parents raised him to be. In the beginning, Gogol thought of his parents as unreasonable, but they thought they had his best interest in mind and named him after a strong, influential author. Because Gogol and his family were “different,” Gogol faced racism at school and outside his home. In the scene where Gogol is in class, there are some wide shots that show the other kids yelling and saying racist things toward him and his race. Then, the camera focuses on Gogol as he sighs and sinks into his chair, leading viewers to believe that this is a normal occurrence for him and that he chooses to ignore it. Later in The Namesake, the Gangulis arrive home to find that their mailbox has been covered in racial slurs and profanity. The camera has the mailbox shown clearly in the foreground and the family blurry in the background. This helps viewers know that the mailbox is the primary focus of that shot. Unfortunately, in this incident, the family does not seem shocked either. This suggests that this family has experienced racism towards them before. For these reasons, Gogol rejects his cultural identity as a way to escape the injustice and prejudice that it