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?