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The Namesake Gogol Identity

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Imagine yourself caught between two vastly different cultures in America- one you only see at home with your family and the other you see at school and in most other aspects of your life. Would you be able to pick just one culture? You know that choosing one would turn your back against your family, but the other would make you stand out in a crowd. How would you handle this dilemma? Jhumpha Lahiri, author of The Namesake, describes the journey of a Bengali family- mainly focusing on Gogol- who recently moved to America. Gogol, the son of Ashima and Ashoke, was born in America and spends the first half of his life trying to run away from his Bengali roots. Although Gogol does not feel as lost and detached as his parents in America, he has a difficult time trying to balance the Bengali culture he was born into as well as the American culture he sees and experiences all around him as he is growing up. Throughout the novel, The Namesake, Gogol struggles to develop his identity due to the clashing of Bengali and American culture in his life. Gogol’s first obstacle in his search for self-identity occurs only a couple days after his birth, when his parents must decide on a name in order to be released from the hospital. Ashima and Ashoke eventually decide on Gogol, after the writer who saved Ashoke’s life during a train crash. However, they both think that it is “only a pet …show more content…

He feels as if he can only fully embrace one culture, so he pushes his Bengali culture as far back as he can and welcomes the American dream. Nikhil represents his American acceptance, whereas Gogol represents his past, which he cannot shake no matter how hard he tries. In the end, he finally embraces and mixes both American and Bengali culture. Despite the cultural and assimilation struggles Gogol faced, he eventually found a way to discover his identity as a Bengali living in

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Due to his indecisiveness and lack of a cemented identity, The Namesake’s Gogol takes on Moushumi 's more clearly defined way of life, ultimately resulting in Gogol being left lonely and hopeless following the divorce. Building itself heavily on the concepts of giving Gogol a sense of identity and a shared need for security, their marriage lacks a mutual input of care and connection. Time after time in his romantic life, from Ruth to Maxine, Gogol has stolen everything about their culture to grant him a sense of meaning. Jhumpa Lahiri shows the very one sided nature of the marriage by providing proof that Moushumi and Gogol focus on filling one another’s emptiness, rather than creating a true connection. Unlike both of their previous relationships,

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To be alone on an island, painting the sky the desired shade of blue, but to be secluded, fending away civilization as it it were a parasite, is not one’s ideal state of mind. Yet, by a particular female character named Moushumi In the book The Namesake, they are confused. Moushumi is the ex-wife of Gogol and identified in detail by Jhumpa Lahiri. Moushumi’s identity is composed of her experiences, her values, and her background.

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According to Farahmandian and the authors, their problems begin prospering “when they go to Paris together, [as] he wishes it were her first time there, so they can feel the same feeling and share the same experience” (Farahmandian). Gogol is enthralled in his Bengali heritage at this point in the book, but the failure of his marriage and divorce to Moushumi leaves him in a state of befuddlement. Gogol has come to terms with his failed relationships that he has struggled with over the past years, but he is led to the conclusion that his name, Gogol Ganguli, will “vanish from the lips of loved ones” and “cease to exist” (Lahiri 289). Gogol’s internal struggle throughout the whole book pertained to this one area of concern; whether he would be remembered as Nikhil in the context of his American influences or as Gogol Ganguli in the eyes of his fellow Bengalis. His failed marriage to Moushumi only strengthened this disordered sense of

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In the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri there are many relationships portrayed throughout the story. Ashoke and Ashima’s relationship doesn’t show their affection for each other. Gogol had three serious relationships with Ruth, Maxine and Moushumi one of which he ended up marrying. His relationship with Maxine was strong because he was very close with her and her family. Gogol’s relationship with Moushumi was based on secrets and their way of not being more open with each other.

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However, as time passes, they begin to nurture a love for each other. This is only the beginning of a series of relationships in “The Namesake.” The primary one, centers on Gogol and his tight relationship between his Indian-cultured parents. At first, Gogol is completely in disgust at his parents and their background. This is evident during the beginning of their trip to India.

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As Gogol begins to grow up in America his attitude towards his name starts to change. The novel begins with Gogol feeling very uncomfortable with being called Nikhil on his first day of school. “It is very common for a child to be confused at first. Please

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