The Namesake

In, "The Namesake," Jhumpa Lahiri continues to show how Bengalian families dislike being comparable to the American culture. After his father's death, Gogol meets Moushumi, a girl whom his parents knew of when back in Bengali several years ago. Within a year of meeting, Gogol and Moushumi marry in New Jersey with a traditional Indian wedding. Having been so accustomed to the American values, the couple wanted to seal their nuptials in the American style, but with such traditional parents, Gogol and Moushumi had to have a wedding with three hundred guests served with Indian food and easy parking. Just like any Bengalian wedding, the couple gets married a couple of weeks after their engagement as opposed to the whole year of preparations a "normal" American has to go through. After their marriage, Moushumi creates a wide furry within the Indian people, as she decides to keep her last name instead of taking that of her new husband. Just like any other Americann tradition, the Indian families did not understand this new American way and wanted their children to keep the Bengalian traditions they had once followed.

Quote: "But their parents insist on inviting close to three hundred people, and providing Indian food, and providing easy parking for all of the guests.

Question: Why did Gogol begin to miss his father at the nearing of graduation and become more understanding of his culture after his death?

The Namesake

The next 25 pages of Jhumpa Lahiri's, "The Namesake," explain that Gogol's dad moves to Cleveland , Ohio and leaves Ashima alone. Ashoke, Gogol's dad, only goes back home to visits every three weekends, and during each visit, he has a lot of things to do due to Ashima never learning how to do the work of a "man." When Ashima is alone at home, she looks through pictures and old letters an documents, and remembers how life used to be when she lived with her parents. Each time Ashoke comes home, she puts the memories away and focuses her life on his existence. Finally, one day comes when Ashoke dies and Ashima is left all by herself. At the time of his father's death, Gogol begins to understand Bengalian traditions. He learns that when a father dies, the son has to completely shave off all of his head and the whole family goes onto a mourning period of ten days where they are not allowed to eat any type of meat or fish—only rice and vegetables. Each day, people call to send the family their dearest condolences, and at the end of the mourning period, Ashima is forced to change all bills and important documents to her name,, and as she does so, she comes to "understand" that the reason why Ashoke had left her before, was so that she can get used to the loneliness she would soon have at the time of his death.

Quote: "She refuses to be so far away from the place where her husband made his life, the country in which he died."

Question: Will Gogol become more appreciative about his culture and begin to become more aware of Bengali traditions after his father's death?

The Namesake

In, "The Namesake," Jhumpa Lahiri continues to tell the life of Gogol throughout his college life. In these next 25 pages, Gogol's twenty-seventh birthday arrives, and for the first time, he does not spend it with his parents. He leaves to New Hampshire with his friends, and while they're there, they throw him a party with several people he does not know. While he is there, he comes upon an ignorant woman—Pamela. She begins to ask Gogol questions about where it is he is from in India, and then moves on to saying how all Indians are skinny and don't get sick, never considering that Gogol is also part of the American culture having been born here in America. Having been his first birthday spent without his parnets, Gogol felt arush of indepencdence. Neither of his parents called to wish him happy birthday because Gogol had decided to isolate himself from his parents to isolate form the ciulture. Even though he knows his parents will not call, he still expects that phone call and begins to miss the presence of his parents—something he had thought would never expected to occur.

Quote: "With work as an excuse, he does not go home to Massachusetts all Summer."

Question: Why are people so ignorant about different cultures?

The Namesake

The next 25 pages of "The Namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri, describes Gogol's life as an older man. At this time, Gogol has graduated, has a girlfriend named Ruth and has decided to move to New York—away from his parent's reach. While in New York, Gogol begins working, but not in the way he had imagined himself working, back when he was a student. When he meets Ruth, he becomes very surprised that her parents are nothing like his parents, something that makes him like her even more. Ruth gets much more freedom from her parents than Gogol ever did, and that truly attracts him even more as it is something he had never really experienced before. Gogol feels that being with Ruth would indeed give him that independence he had always longed for, and so he wished to live his life with her. A few months later, he notices that Ruth was not the woman he had been looking for after all, and notices that all he wanted from her was the cultural independence that she held from her family. Gogol decides to move on and continues his search for love with other women in his path.

Quote: "He prefers New York, a place which his parents do not know well, whose beauty they are blind to, which they fear."

Question: Why is Gogol so desperate to get away from his parents and separate from his culture?

The Namesake

As "The Namesake," continues, Jhumpa Lahiri shows how Gogol lives with his undesirable name each day. One day, Gogol finally decides that since he is so unsatisfied with his given name, that he will officially change it. Gogol goes to court and asks to change his name to what was supposed to be his 'good-name'— 'Nikhil.' When he is asked to fill out paperwork regarding the name change, Gogol does not know what to write for his reasons on changing his name so turns in the form blank, but verbally explains that he has always hated his given birth name. The judge gives Gogol the name change he had desired for years, and his excitement becomes so big, that he begins to tell his new name to everyone he meets on the street. When it is time for Gogol to go to New Haven University, his new roommates are the first to call him by his new name Nikhil, but even though he feels a rush of freedom from his Bengali culture, he feels as though a piece of him is missing. As time goes by, Gogol's parents meet his roommates and his parents begin to refer to him directly as 'Nikhil,' and just as that happens, he feels awkward and begins to miss the Gogol he used to be. Gogol learns that even though he has wished to be someone else throughout all those years, that he will always be Gogol and that that will never change.

Quote: "Stranger still is when one of his parents addresses him, in front of his new friends, as Nikhil directly..."

Question: Will Gogol begin to feel remorse for changing his birth name and trying to assimilate into another culture, and change back to the Bengali Gogol he used to be?

The Namesake

In the next twenty-five pages of Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake," Gogol turns fourteen and he 'finds out' why it is his name is 'Gogol." He learns that his father became fascinated by a book author by that name—but he never received any further explanation. Gogol begins explaining how he does not like his name for it being uncommon and unusual. He thinks his name is too weird and would like something simpler like those of his classmates. Gogol comes to a stage in his life where he begins to assimilate into the American culture and wants to have his name, 'Gogol' shortened and abbreviated into something other than the "catchy" name he already has. He begins to forget his culture and begins to listen to American music and never cares to open the case of Bengali music his father gave to him. In this section of the book, Gogol shows how much he hates having his 'pet-name' also be his 'good-name' but even though he blames his father for that matter, he partly blames himself for not choosing to go by 'Nikhil' when asked to do so in school.

Quote: "...it dismays him that his parents chose the weirdest namesake."

Question: Will Ashoke continue to allow his son to assimilate into the American culture and forget his Indian roots?

The Namesake

In, "The Namesake," Jhumpa Lahiri continues to follow the lives of Ashoke and his new family. In the third chunk, Gogol, their son, is finally old enough to start school. Before taking Gogol to his first day of kindergarten, Ashoke and Ashima try to find a "good-name" for their son to be used only at school. Ashoke proposes the name Nikhil; even though she does not fully agree, Ashima accepts and so they take Gogol for enrollment. As they arrive to school, the family comes upon the very ignorant school principal who states that the school has two other Indian children enrolled, and perhaps the family may know them. Gogol is then introduced as Nikhil, but when he does not respond to the name, his father Ashoke mentions to him his real name and at the end of the day, the principal ignores the parents' decision to call Gogol by his "good-name," Nikhil and uses his pet name, Gogol instead. A couple of months later, Ashima becomes pregnant once more and in May, gives birth to Gogol's sister. At the time of the girl's birth, Ashima and Ashoke had already planned a "good-name" for the new baby, as they did not want to relive the difficult experiences of Gogol's name. The new baby was named Sonali—a combination of both her "good-name" and her "pet-name," though later in life, she will be known by her family only as Sonia. The family learns that in America, life is very different from what they are used to, and that it is now time to adjust to the American society they are now surrounded by.

Quote: "They've learned their lesson after Gogol."

Question: Why are American's so ignorant and why don't they accept other culture's traditions?