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Essay outline about the namesake by jhumpa lahiri
Essay outline about the namesake by jhumpa lahiri
The theme of The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Born 50/50 Jhumpa Lahiri, the brilliant author of The Namesake, made a significant point about second-generation immigrants having dual-identities in America. In terms of dual-identity in The Namesake, a person is encountered with choosing between cultures, lifestyles, and decisions. Gogol Ganguli, a protagonist, faces the problem of dual-identity throughout the book. Furthermore, he was faced with the idea of becoming either a true American or Bengali. Gogol’s problematic dual-identity journey started from the day that he was born till the day he found a true balance between his dual-identity. The spark that lighted the fuse for Gogol’s problem was the day of his birth on American soil. His parents, Ashoke and Ashima, were confronted with …show more content…
During Gogol’s sophomore year, the whole family goes on a trip to Calcutta. The more Gogol lived in Calcutta during his eight month stay; he felt less connected to his Bengali side. For instance, “Gogol and Sonia know these people, but they do not feel close to them as their parents do” (Lahiri 81). Hence that Gogol did not feel a connection to his Bengali side in India. Moreover, he never got to follow the tradition of a pet name and a good name which might be why he did not feel connected to his Bengali family members. Even back home in America, Gogol hated his name because he sensed that he was being smothered by three identities. “He hates that his name is both absurd and obscure, that it has nothing to do with who he is, that it is neither Indian nor American but of all things Russian” (Lahiri 76). Then later on his junior year, Gogol goes to a college party and meets a girl named Kim. Instead of saying his usual name, he calls himself Nikhil which was the name that he was supposed to have. “ ‘It wasn’t me,’ he nearly says. But he doesn’t tell them that it hadn’t been Gogol who’d kissed Kim. That Gogol had nothing to do with it” (Lahiri 96). After that night, Gogol took his first step into a new world and becoming a new person which pushes the story …show more content…
He tried to push away his American side and his connections to it such as Maxine. He even said “I don’t want to get away” (Lahiri 182) in which he was referring to the chaos of dealing with the ceremony of his father death. Soon Gogol marries a childhood Bengali friend, Moushumi, and they have a grand, Bengali wedding. Then sadly, they get a divorce because Moushumi cheats on Gogol. Throughout that process Gogol experience the thrill of have a Bengali wife, but he also experience the typical American marriage of having a divorce. In the end Gogol remembered all the wisdom that his father told, and that helped understand what meant to have a dual-identity. There are always problems encountered in finding a
Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist. Yet the thought of this eventual demise provides him no sense of victory, no solace. It provides no solace at all…
Love in stories is often shown as the path to ultimate happiness, but love causes both protagonists to become distracted from their destiny. After meeting Fatima, a girl he falls in love with, Santiago loses his faith in the significance of his Personal Legend, declaring “I’ve found Fatima, and, as far as I’m concerned, she’s worth more than treasure” (Coelho 123). Santiago nearly decides to stay with Fatima and desist from continuing his quest. However, the alchemist tells him “You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love…” (Coelho 125). Love is not considered as the most important treasure and Santiago's own destiny has to come first. Fatima also urges Santiago to continue his quest, but Gogol’s girlfriend, Maxine, is less encouraging, even holding him back. Gogol deviates from his path to accepting his identity by dating her. Maxine is a typical white American girl, and their relationship distances Gogol from his culture. After Gogol’s father passes away, Maxine asks that he spend more time with her, but Gogol prefers to complete the rituals and follow Hindu traditions, leading them to break up. By conquering love, Gogol progresses on his path toward accomplishing his Personal Legend. The more selfish outlook on accomplishing one's destiny first before even love is a less common perspective shared by these stories. Love and Personal Legends both demand sacrificing what they hold most dear to themselves and accepting that nothing else can come before it, and one must choose to follow one or the
The role of the Gogolian narrator is an unassuming revealer of what is hidden in the world. Revelations can be the world’s evils, morality, or a nation’s ultimate purpose. Gogol’s narrator is merely a puppet of his imagination and is kept within certain boundaries. Sometimes the narrator’s lack of transparency can make a story seem like a parable or folk tale like in “The Nose” and “Nevsky Prospect.” We can see this in what limited information the narrator is allowed to reveal to the reader and I will examine this theme in Gogol’s “Nevsky Prospect,” “The Nose,” and Dead Souls.
Lahiri, a second-generation immigrant, endures the difficulty of living in the middle of her hyphenated label “Indian-American”, whereas she will never fully feel Indian nor fully American, her identity is the combination of her attributes, everything in between.
Gogol argues that he was supposed to be Nikhil anyways so it would be fine to change his name since that is what his parents have chosen for him in the first place.Obviously Gogol had a reason to change the name he so desperately held onto at a young age, it 's because Gogol no longer felt like he could handle the character Gogol and thought he could do so much better as Nikhil then as Gogol, he thinks that Gogol, the shy, quiet, attentive boy as opposed to Nikhil , the loud, confident,and party animal is who he should and is to be.In the book there 's a scene where Google is talking to his parents about how people don 't take him seriously because of his name, google was lying.”the only person who constantly questioned it and wished it were otherwise, was Gogol”(Lahir, 5.100).Gogol is constantly questioning his name, himself,and asking himself questions that question his identity.As Gogol becomes Nikhil, Gogol takes on a new atittude he would never take on as Goggle, and thats the new begining of
“For by now, he’s come to hate questions pertaining to his name, hates having constantly to explain. He hates having to tell people that it doesn’t mean anything “in Indian” (Lahiri 76). From this quote from the book Gogol is tired of his name and tired of people thinking it has something to do with being Indian, when they don’t know the real meaning of his
...o assimilate into the society by entering school with a more acceptable name, but Gogol refuses. The acceptance of the society has pressured him to change his name in college, and to hide Gogol from the society. Till the day Gogol understands the reason why his father chose to name him Gogol instead of an Indian or American name, Gogol experienced a lot of changes, as a second generation American immigrant. Gogol has been assimilated to different culture than he ethnically is. At the end, through family, Gogol has come back to his roots. Gogol was not given an Indian name from his Indian family or an American name as he was born in America, to emphasize an individual try to assimilate into a different culture, but in the end, he is still bonded to his roots as the person he ethnically is.
Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri, an Indian by descent, was born in London in August 1967, to a Bengali immigrant Indian parents. “Jhumpa” is the nickname easier for the teachers remember his name. The Lahiri family moved from England to Rhode Island when Jhumpa was two years old. Her father was a librarian at Rhode Island University and her mother was a school teacher. At age of seven, Lahiri started to embrace writing about what she saw and felt. While growing up, Lahiri lived two lives: An Indian at home and An American outside of the home. Despite of living most of their life in the western world, Lahiri’s parents called “Calcutta” their home unlike Lahiri who thought Rhode Island as her hometown. Lahiri always felt her family had a different li...
Throughout the novel Gogol is affected by American values in many different ways. When Gogol came to America he changed in a big way. He became a very individual person. He didn’t act the same with his parents anymore because of this. It all began when he found out that his parents named him after their favorite Russian author Nikolai Gogol. He was very angered by this because as he got older he didn’t like that name. In class his teacher was talking about the Russian writer and how he was a Genius but had some problems. Nikolai was very paranoid and he didn’t have any friends. He never got married and finally committed suicide by starvation. “Did you know about [Nikolai Gogol] when you named me? That he was paranoid, suicidal, friendless, and depressed?” (Lahiri). All of Gogol’s classmates started to tease him because of his name. This is when Gogol really started to get mad at his parents. “Of all the freaking Russian writers in the universe why did they have to choose the weirdest? What the hell’s wrong with Leo or Anton?” (Lahiri). Gogol eventually lived on his own in New York. When he was living there he got with this girl Maxine. That was his love interest at the time. Ashima’s wish was to have a Bengali daughter-in-law and Gogol...
During his youth, Gogol Ganguli undoubtedly embraces American culture enthusiastically while distancing himself from his Bengali origins, particularly in the realm of relationships. He, despite his parent’s wishes, becomes much like an average American teenager. Although “[he] does not date anyone in high school… [and] does not attend dances or parties” (93), he still has crushes on girls and wishes he were able to date them. Gogol’s parents are utterly naïve about what he is truly like during his teenage years. They did not have any relationships with the opposite sex in their youth so they do not find it strange that Gogol does not either. Moreover, it seems absolutely absurd to them that he would even consider girls and his age. Dating would take away from time he could devote to his studies and is therefore not even an option. ...
...s tale turns into an attack on the ridiculous, heartless nature of Russian society – especially Russian in civil service. Gogol portrays the trivialness of this through the use of distinct contrasts, mostly between how the poor official in this tale sees his prized overcoat, and how his fellow workers view it, and him, with scorn and mocking laughter. It is not a pleasant tale, and there is no happy ending. But it is effective in how well it presents the absurdities of life at this time in St. Petersburg.
At the beginning of Chapter 1 the theme of identity and one’s name is introduced. The names of Gogol’s parents: Ashima (“she who is limitless, without borders”) and Ashoke (“he who transcends grief”) were chosen with care according to Hindi customs. Their names drive their lives in a...
...zation leads to Gogol’s discovery of his true identity. Although he has always felt that he had to find a new, more American and ordinary identity, he has come to terms that he will always be the Gogol that is close to his family. While Gogol is coming to this understanding, Ashima has finally broken free from relying on her family, and has become “without borders” (176). No longer the isolated, unsure Bengali she was when arriving in Cambridge, Ashima has been liberated from dependent and powerless to self empowering. The passing of her husband has forced her to go through her life as a more self-reliant person, while at the same time she is able to maintain her daily Indian customs. This break-through is the final point of Ashima’s evolution into personal freedom and independency.
Gogol is not completely cut off from his roots and identity. He tries to reject his past, but it makes him stranger to himself. He fears to be discovered. With the rejection of Gogol’s name, Lahiri rejects the immigrant identity maintained by his parents. But this outward change fails to give him inner satisfaction.
Now knowing what his actions would lead to, he would go out of his way to familiarize himself with the American traditions leaving his upbringing in the past. A new dislike for his name arises as he “hates signing his name at the bottom...Nothing to do with who he is (76).” Feeling emerge and suddenly Gogol feels as if he has no connections to his name. Only to make these feelings worse he feels humiliated by his classmates for having the name he has but in reality his name isn’t a topic of discussion to his peers. Through this phase the author emphasizes how other people 's opinion are more important to Gogol than what he thinks of himself. The opinions of others have consumed his thoughts so horribly that Gogol becomes viewing himself through the eyes of others. At this point in Gogol’s life it would be a great time for his father to tell him why he chose to give him his birth name but his dad decides to simply give his son the book that at one point saved his life. Not even remotely interested in what he now has in his possession Gogol, “puts the book away on his shelve (77).” On this shelve the book lingers for years to come. As an independent individual Gogol makes little to no effort to remain in contact with his family. Never does he question the book given to him nor does he attempt making small talk with his father about why the book was so important to him and how it influenced him to name his son after the