Jhumpa Lahiri's Writing Style in "The Namesake"
Lahiri’s Writing Style
Having read Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, it is apparent that she occasionally adopts a particular writing style, by which she projects thoughts into future. In other words, there are numerous examples in the book, where Lahiri chooses to ‘give away’ to the reader additional information about the characters which refers to their future situation and will either appear later in the book, or will never be mentioned again.
Projecting thoughts into future is a way of writing that Lahiri applies in various points throughout the book; however, the last three pages of the novel are totally based on this writing style. More specifically, the writer describes the way of life that Gogol and his mother will have to adopt, since she has decided to spend half of the remainder of her life in her homeland, far away from her children. Furthermore, the reader learns about Gogol’s thoughts and feelings, after he has temporarily abandoned his mother’s party and is about to read The Overcoat for the first time in his life. Lahiri might apply this writing style in the final pages for various reasons. First of all, when Lahiri provides the reader with information about Gogol’s future, she emphasizes the deep feeling of loneliness that will fill his heart from now on. The absence of the sound created when his mom pronounced his name, Gogol, will leave a gap in his soul. Without people calling him ‘Gogol’, except for Ashima who is expected to call once or twice a week, the part of him that has secretly learned to love and accept his Indian side, the ‘Gogol’ side, will now fade away, vanish into thin air. It is apparent that the main reason for which Lahiri talks about Gogol’s future feelings at this point of the novel is her strong desire to show that the protagonist has finally managed to come to terms with his Indian existence and has even realized the significant effect it has had throughout his whole life. After that, the writer masterfully builds
Having read Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, it is apparent that she occasionally adopts a particular writing style, by which she projects thoughts into future. In other words, there are numerous examples in the book, where Lahiri chooses to ‘give away’ to the reader additional information about the characters which refers to their future situation and will either appear later in the book, or will never be mentioned again.
Projecting thoughts into future is a way of writing that Lahiri applies in various points throughout the book; however, the last three pages of the novel are totally based on this writing style. More specifically, the writer describes the way of life that Gogol and his mother will have to adopt, since she has decided to spend half of the remainder of her life in her homeland, far away from her children. Furthermore, the reader learns about Gogol’s thoughts and feelings, after he has temporarily abandoned his mother’s party and is about to read The Overcoat for the first time in his life. Lahiri might apply this writing style in the final pages for various reasons. First of all, when Lahiri provides the reader with information about Gogol’s future, she emphasizes the deep feeling of loneliness that will fill his heart from now on. The absence of the sound created when his mom pronounced his name, Gogol, will leave a gap in his soul. Without people calling him ‘Gogol’, except for Ashima who is expected to call once or twice a week, the part of him that has secretly learned to love and accept his Indian side, the ‘Gogol’ side, will now fade away, vanish into thin air. It is apparent that the main reason for which Lahiri talks about Gogol’s future feelings at this point of the novel is her strong desire to show that the protagonist has finally managed to come to terms with his Indian existence and has even realized the significant effect it has had throughout his whole life. After that, the writer masterfully builds