The Namesake

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is a bildungsroman that involves an array of themes and related symbols. The story centers on our protagonist, Gogol Ganguli, the son of Ashima Ganguli and Ashoke Ganguli, both of which are immigrants from Bengal. The story is set throughout the span of Gogol’s life, where he struggles to accept the name he was given. He rejected his good name in school and changed his legal name before going off to college. In the end, after learning the significance of his name, he learns to love and accept his name. Throughout the story, many symbols are introduced and all of them relate to a major theme of the story. Names, trains, and food are three of the symbols mentioned throughout the novel that relate to nostalgia and

‘Though the letter was sent a month ago, in July, it has yet to arrive’ (Ch.2, pg.25), and during the span of Gogol’s life, has still yet to arrive. The letter not arriving on time leads to Gogol being named by his parents. For some, a name might seem like an assortment of letters, used to give a human some sort of identity in the world, no matter our name, some people always felt rather neutral about their given name. Gogol on the other hand, feels like he is an outlier in the world, his unique name, derived from Nikolai Gogol, the Russian author who wrote ‘The Overcoat’, causes this feeling of hatred towards his name, despite the emotional story that comes from his dad choosing the name. During a class, he learns of the real Gogol and realizes that ‘not only does Gogol Ganguli have a pet name turned good name, but a last name turned first name. And so it occurs to him that no one he knows in the world, in Russia or India or America or anywhere, share his name. Not even the source of his namesake.’ This feeling alone drives Gogol’s dislike for his name. Despite the dislike of his name, Gogol learns that the reason he was given his name was because the book that saved his father was written by Gogol. In the novel, names show a connection to family and nostalgia, because Gogol’s name is a constant reminder to Ashok of the train accident he was in, and

Her attempt of this snack is ‘a humble approximation of the snack sold for pennies on Calcutta sidewalks and on railway platforms throughout India’ (Ch.1, pg.1). This food, along with the other foods mentioned in the novel, all remind Ashima of her home back in Calcutta. A little later in the novel, Gogol’s annaprasan involves his consumption of his first solid food. Much like the baptism of Christian child, the annaprasan is a major and formal ceremony for Bengali children. Food is not only used as a way to connect one to their family, but also to their own culture. Food is a big symbol, in the way that food seems to be an important item in order to preserve the Bengali culture in the Ganguli household, since they are all so far from India. The novel also ends with us observing Ashima making croquettes, and reminiscing of the past with her children Gogol and Sonia. The mention of all the traditional food, not only shows us how important food is in order to connect them all to their culture and home, but also shows us just how important the Gangualis mean to each other, even if they didn’t show it earlier in the novel. Food is therefore, tied to the two themes of family and