Ashima’s grandmother‚ but the letter from Calcutta never comes. The name Gogol is important as he starts kindergarten. His parents intend for him to go by "Nikhil" at school and "Gogol" at home‚ but Gogol is confused and does not want a new name‚ "He is afraid to be Nikhil‚ someone he doesn’t know. Who doesn’t know him" (Lahiri‚ J. p. 59). As a child‚ he associates a new name with a new identity. As a little boy‚ Gogol likes his name and when his parents try to give him a "good name" Nikhil‚ when
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and a dak nam‚ a nickname used for family and close friends (26). Although Gogol Nikhil Ganguli is a Bengali‚ he isn’t your average typical one; the whole pet name (Gogol) vs. his good name (Nikhil) sets forth a battle within his mind causing himself to alienate him from those who care about him the most. In The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri‚ the theme of identity crisis gets played a lot throughout the novel. When Gogol first starts school‚ his father tries to persuade him to go by his good name
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others will think. Otherwise‚ the world would be insanely uninteresting. “The Namesake‚” by Jhumpa Lahiri‚ is about a boy called by the unique name of Gogol Ganguli. When he was young‚ Gogol was oblivious to the differences in his name to socially-normal-names‚ but as he grew up‚ he began to notice them. The story is about a significant event where Gogol realizes just how unique his name is. In “The Namesake‚” Jhumpa Lahiri develops the theme that it is okay to be unique through family influence‚ interaction
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status as a “Bildungsroman”. Sympathy and affection is created for Gogol‚ making the tone of this final passage pensive and sentimental. It delivers the climax where Gogol is finally able to find balance in issues that had been bothering him throughout the novel. One of the key concerns dealt with in this passage is the importance of a name.This is the first time following the death of Ashoke that Lahiri zooms into the thoughts of Gogol. The passage opens with a third person limited perspective “The
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There are many factors that affected people to be what they are now. In The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri‚ Gogol‚ the main character‚ developed from a child attached to his family to a teenager that often rejects his parents and their Bengali culture. As a young boy‚ he was very close to his parents‚ especially his mother‚ and would listen to them‚ but as he grew up‚ it eventually changed. He wasn’t as close to his parents as he was when he was at a young age. He rejected his family and his culture because
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Summary A year after Ashoke’s death‚ Gogol is studying for his registration exam that will allow him to be a licensed architect practicing in New York. He has broken up with Maxine a few months after Ashoke’s death‚ and now she is engaged to someone else. Sonia is still living in the house on Pemberton Road with their mother‚ who spends her nights awake and lonely‚ watching TV in bed. One night‚ Gogol agrees to go out with the other students in the class he is taking to prepare for his registration
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to achieve a sense of belonging amongst her peers. Gogol misperceives how others perceive him‚ generated from his lack of understanding of his place in the world due to his unusual name. During a class trip to a cemetery in his earlier years‚ Gogol cannot find his name on any of the headstones and is confronted with the fact that his name is unique. Contrasted to the generic American names of his friends‚ “Colin and Jason and Marc”‚ Gogol perceives his name only highlights his cultural differences
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Gogol’s Namesake: Identity and Relationships in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake Author: Judith Caesar Allusions to Nikolai V. Gogol and his short story "The Overcoat" permeate Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake‚ beginning with Gogol’s being the name the protagonist is called through most of the book. Yet few of the reviewers of the novel mentioned Nikolai Gogol at all in their discussions of the novel‚ except to describe the protagonist Gogol’s loathing of his name‚ or to quote without comment or
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and traditions‚ but when you have to balance both‚ it’s difficult to figure out who you truly are. Gogol grows up throughout the book with a Hindu-Indian family while living in America. He confronts the challenge of assimilating while trying to pursue two cultures. As he gets older‚ he then tries to find his identity by changing his name from Gogol to Nikhil and starts different relationships. But Gogol then realized that what has held him and his family together has been the Indian culture‚ which has
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First‚ to understand Gogol’s background the reader was shown the perspective of not just Gogol‚ but Ashima and Ashoke. They had to culturally force themselves to satisfy their customs in a place far away
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