An Almost Perfect Match in The Namesake by Jhumpa Latiri

As far as relationships go, people believe there is an ideal match somewhere out there in the world that was made for them. Most of the time this conspiracy becomes a reality, but only for few. In the story The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the main character, Nikhil and his ex-fiancé, Moushumi seemed as if they were the kind of couple that would have lasted forever. Unfortunately as we continue to read through the story, we realized that they were not really meant to be. Even though they seemed as a perfect puzzle piece, various factors contributed to the end of their marriage.

This almost perfect match started after the death of Nikhil’s father, Ashoke. After his death, Nikhil finally understood where his father came from and was going in to a path that followed the principles and values of his Bengali culture. This path he took soon led him to meeting Moushumi, who is also Bengali. Associating himself with a woman who was like him, made him feel like he was reconnecting with his Indian roots. As he felt closer to his culture he also felt like keeping his affiliation with Moushumi was the correct thing to do to make him feel like he was still somehow still linked to his father. After a year of them being together, Nikhil proposed to Moushumi and was soon to wed.

At first Gogol despised his culture and tried to do everything possible to get away from it. Previous girls Gogol dated were never Indian. He was initially attracted to American girls. The fact that they were completely diverse from his culture is what captured his attention. Dating someone who wasn’t closely related to his culture was an unthinkable thing to do in Bengali society, so it made Gogol’s reason to disobey flourish even more because to him it was exci...

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...being married to someone she didn’t love that has caused her, subconsciously, to shut herself off” (Lahiri ). closing herself off like a clam completely ruined the chances of their marriage working out. If Moushumi had more enthusiasm to try and make her relationship workout if probably would have.

Overall it is clear that their marriage was never meant to be. From the Start Gogol should have realized he was making a mistake. I felt like he only went through with a marriage because it was something new for him and it was what his father would have wanted. Considering the atrocious reputation Moushumi had with her past relationships he should have seen her affair coming. If their relationship lied under different circumstances I believe the outcome would

Works Cited

Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. 1-291. Print.