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Impact of culture on society
Impact of culture on society
Impact of culture on society
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The Namesake, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri published in the year 2003. Ultimately, in 2007, The Namesake became a major motion picture. Both the novel and the film effectively convey the theme of cultural tensions between American and Indian traditions. Throughout the story, the theme is effectively communicated by the many struggles the Ganguli family endures in America such as: Gogol’s naming, the enforcement of Indian tradition in the Ganguli children’s lives, and Gogol’s unhappy love affairs. The film and novel both do an excellent job of portraying the culture clash of two traditions in the developing society of America.
Throughout The Namesake, a culture clash is conveyed by the struggles that the Ganguli
John Smith, the troubled Indian adopted by whites appears at first to be the main character, but in some respects he is what Alfred Hitchcock called a McGuffin. The story is built around him, but he is not truly the main character and he is not the heart of the story. His struggle, while pointing out one aspect of the American Indian experience, is not the central point. John Smith’s experiences as an Indian adopted by whites have left him too addled and sad, from the first moment to the last, to serve as the story’s true focus.
This poem written by Francisco Alarcon describes the life of an illiterate man who finds himself signing away his freedom by placing his mark on a contract. He is unable to read the contract he is signing or even write his name. Being unable to read he leaves himself vulnerable to be taken advantage of and deceived. Alarcon, who was raised in a Hispanic community, was surrounded by illiteracy. Wanting to change the situation in which he was raised in he went to school to become a teacher and now focuses his efforts on eliminating illiteracy. This poem was written from the experience of watching those he cared about around him being taken advantage of because they were unable to read or write. "The X in My Name" shows the mistakes and ill consequences that illiteracy can bring upon those uneducated. It also sheds light onto how social structure and financial class play into illiteracy, and how detrimental illiteracy can be to those on the low end of the monetary spectrum. Though Alarcon only uses a few words it is easy to understand and see how the illiterate can be effortlessly be taken advantage of.
As a result, both films represent Natives Americans under the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films add in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfold partly unlike. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar say, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake illustrates the assimilation of Gogol as a second generation American immigrant, where Gogol faces the assimilation of becoming an American. Throughout the novel, Gogol has been struggling with his name. From kindergarten to college, Gogol has questioned the reason why he was called Nikhil when he was a child, to the reason why he was called Gogol when he was in college. Having a Russian name, Gogol often encounters questions from people around him, asking the reason of his name. Gogol was not given an Indian name from his Indian family or an American name from the fact that he was born in America, to emphasize that how hard an individual try to assimilate into a different culture, he is still bonded to his roots as the person he ethnically is.
It’s pretty clear that film and literature are very different mediums and when you try to make one into the other, such as an adaptation, you’re going to have some things that are lost in translation and seen in a different light. When an original work is made into a movie, I think they’re kind of at a disadvantage because they only have a few hours to get the whole story across while also keeping the viewer intrigued by what is taking place on the screen right in front of their eyes. Movies are able to contain special effects, visuals, and music though which can impact a viewer and make a scene stay in their mind longer which is a plus side to being able to view something. Literature on the other hand, has a greater advantage. They can keep the reader entertained for a considerably long time and you’re able to get more information about people and events such as what a character is thinking or what is happening behind the scenes during a specific event. I understand that people are going to have different opinions when it comes to whether a book or film adaptation of a work is the best and it is not always going to be the same for each and every piece of work. One thing I think though, is that The Namesake in both the film and the movie, they’re both accurate and concise in the way that they relate to one another.
Having two considerably different cultures can cause a strife with one’s identity. In “No Name Woman,” Maxine Kingston’s mother tells her a story of her aunt that committed adultery which therefore led to her segregation from her own family and villagers. Kingston’s mother asserts that the story should not be told by anyone and the story’s purpose was to strike fear in her daughter. Then, Kingston explores the different scenarios that could have led to her aunt’s suppressed suicide. Through the use of characterization of her aunt’s desolation, animated imagery and diction, Kingston demonstrates the difficulty of finding an identity when different cultures conflict with each other.
A person's identity cannot be given to her, instead a person must achieve a sense of her character through personal experience and self-reflection. In "No Name Woman", Maxine Hong Kingston recalls the events of her aunt's life in the vague world of her Chinese roots. The story of her aunt is told by her mother and Kingston recreates the events into an exploratory story to help herself figure out what part of her identity is Chinese and help her better understand the Chinese culture. In retelling her aunt's story, Kingston seeks to reconcile both her Chinese and American identities and mold her own identity as a result. Kingston, a first generation American, finds that as a result of her cultural heritage and current surroundings, it is extremely difficult in resolving her identity. Although growing up in America, she is a product of a very strong Chinese culture so her identity becomes multifaceted. In attempting to resolve who she is and what her cultural roots are, she discovers that her identity is characterized in relation to her Chinese identity and her American environment.
In the poem “The Names,” by Billy Collins, the speaker is calmly recalling people’s last names alphabetically as he notices them wherever he goes. At first it seems as though he is playing a game to see how many names he can think of. After reading the whole poem several times, it becomes clear that he is referring to people who died on September 11th. Collins uses imagery, a serious tone, and similes throughout the poem to show appreciation for the memory of the victims that died that tragic day.
routinely giving expression to what we have come to recognize as a family trying to assimilate to the surroundings they have decided to be a part of. The Namesake had taken the Ganguli family from their life of tradition in Calcutta through a transformation to a life in America.
Every time I open a Word Document and proceed to type my name, a red squiggly line appears under it, to inform me that I’ve spelled my name wrong. This happens every time and I find it so annoying, but trust me I’m highly skilled in spelling my name. I’ve never thought about if my name fits me until I began working on this essay. I’ve never had a problem with my name; I feel my first name Bria, suites me.
My dad has this old Bill Cosby record that he used to listen to in the age of record players (now he's got the very same in CD version). It was a comedy routine in which Cosby describes his childhood. He reminisces in particular about how he could tell when he was in trouble. His father would say something to the effect of "GODDAMIT, GET OVER HERE!", and then Cosby throws out the punch line of the story: Up until he was about ten years old, he thought his name was "GODDAMIT."
Over the course of the novel, The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol is constantly moving, and by the time he is in his late twenties, he has already lived in five different homes, while his mother, Ashima has lived in only five houses her entire life. Each time Gogol moves, he travels farther away from his childhood home on Pemberton Road, symbolizing his search for identity and his desire to further himself from his family and Bengali culture. Alternatively, Ashima’s change of homes happens in order to become closer to family, representing her kinship with Bengali culture. Ashima has always had difficulty with doing things on her own, but by the end of the story she ultimately decides to travel around both India and the States without a real home as a result of the evolution of her independence and the breaking of her boundaries; in contrast, Gogol finally realizes that he has always stayed close to home, despite his yearning for escape, and settles into his newly discovered identity - the one that he possessed all along.
The title The Namesake mirrors the struggle of Gogol Ganguli, child of Ashoke and Ashima, Indian foreigners to the U.S.A. to get personality in the way of life where he is conceived and raised with his strange name. Names do make them mean in India. A considerable measure of practice is done when a youngster is named in India. An Indian tyke for the most part conveys two names, a pet name and an official one. Pet names are for the family and neighbours and colleagues. They convey or may not convey meaning. In any case, official names are kept with a great deal of care and practice.
Do our names give us meaning or do we give meaning to our names? From the moment we are born our parents are the ones to give us our name without knowing our personality, only hoping it fits who we grow up to be. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake, the protagonist is struggling with a conflict within himself whether to accept his Bengali culture or to embrace a new way. The American way. Being the son of two Bengali parents Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli were in a rush to name their newborn child after never having received the name sent by the protagonist’s grandmother. In this moment, at the rush of the hour the child was named Gogol, taking the name of an author of the book that saved the life of his father after having been in a horrible
In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, the protagonist, Gogol, struggles with his cultural identity. He is an American-born Bengali struggling to define himself. He wants to fit into the typical American-lifestyle, a lifestyle his parents do not understand. This causes him tension through his adolescence and adult life, he has trouble finding a balance between America and Bengali culture. This is exemplified with his romantic relationships. These relationships directly reflect where he is in his life, what he is going through and his relationship with his parents. Each woman indicates a particular moment in time where he is trying to figure out his cultural identity. Ruth represents an initial break away from Bengali culture; Maxine represents