Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2003 novel The Namesake is the fictional narrative of Gogol Ganguli‚ a second generation immigrant in America‚ and his haunting feeling of not being able to identify with his name. Gogol feels that his name “has nothing to do with who he is‚ that it is neither Indian nor American but of all things Russian.” (Lahiri 70) This essay will argue that Gogol’s problematic relationship to his name stems from a need for a sense of belonging. Coming from a family that values their heritage
Premium
important for a person’s self-esteem and it is equal to having an identity of your own‚ since it effects a person’s ability to relate to other people. It is something that you grow into‚ as well as something that you already are. Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2004) emphasizes the essence of that. It is being characterized by the protagonist of the book‚ Gogol Ganguli‚ a second-generation immigrant that is trying to find his own identity. This paper is build upon the thesis that the problem of alternating
Premium The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Culture
Work of Free online Research Paper Structuralism vs. Functionalism Structuralism and functionalism explore the human mind; both are concerned with the conscious self‚ despite the verbal bashing of each side. While they had some similarities‚ they also had many differences which will be explored below Structuralism‚ the first major school of thought in psychology‚ was founded by Wilhelm Wundt. It is the study of the elements of consciousness‚ and focused on breaking down mental processes into
Free Mind Psychology Cognitive science
Call of the Wild. N.p.‚ n.d. Web. 07 May 20130 -The Call of the Wild drew immediate critical attention from popular journalists. -Londons presence proliferated in the 1960’s‚ and 1960 was a watershed year for The Call of the Wild as many of Londons works were reprinted. 2)"Call of the Wild Critical Review" StudyMode.com. 10 2010. 10 2010 . -the story becomes so in-depth it is tedious‚ causing readers to lose concentration and possibly even interest in the story as a whole. - Despite the story
Premium The Call of the Wild Klondike Gold Rush Jack London
"Why don’t I just get an abortion?" Maria asked her husband. "You absolutely won’t‚ I won’t let you kill my child. We’ll work this out; we’ll make the payments to the hospital little by little‚" replied Daniel in disbelief. Maria was contemplating getting an abortion because she and Daniel had virtually no money. Daniel felt they could work through it. Abortion is the worst route to take when it comes down to a choice. Abortion is a provoked termination‚ or annihilation‚ of a pregnancy and the removal
Premium Pregnancy Human Abortion
Scholarly Article on “The Namesake” By Jhumpa Lahiri The article I chose is titled‚ “From Hybrids to Tourists: Children of Immigrants in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake‚” written by Natalie Friedman. This in depth article focuses on the inner personal struggle of an immigrant family to the United States with emphasis on Gogol Ganguli. Friedman distinguishes “the Namesake” from most other novels of its kind. As opposed to stories about immigrants coming to the United States in search of financial
Premium
Jhumpa Lahiri is the author of the fictional bestseller‚ “The Namesake”‚ a moving novel exploring the life of the married couple‚ Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli‚ immigrants from India in the United States of America. The two both adapt to the new cultural changes in America though once they give birth to Gongol Ganguli‚ a name Ashoke has given after he was “rescued” by that author in a train accident‚ they have both yet to experience parenthood. As the years go by‚ and Ashima and Ashoke begin to get accustomed
Premium
involved with the children. Parents need to make many decisions carefully to make sure their child’s future is the best it can be. One of the most important decisions made is the choice for the mother to stay at home with the children and not work or work and send the children to some form of child care. Both offer advantages for the family. However‚ working mothers benefit the family more than stay-at-home mothers. In today’s economy most jobs are not secure. So for a family to rely on one
Premium Day care Childcare Family
two different cultures‚ American and Bengali. Many children of immigrants may feel like Gogol‚ having one foot in each world. Gogol framed his struggle with cultural identity through something tangible‚ his name. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel‚ The Namesake‚ Gogol’s struggle with cultural identity is exposed most greatly by the name others call him and his reaction to it. On Gogol’s first day of school‚ he gets his first taste of the cultural tension that his name and “good name” generate in typical
Premium The Namesake Nikolai Gogol Jhumpa Lahiri
immigrant narrative (in Lahiri; Ashoke’s obsession with Nikolai Gogol); intersections between Gogol’s The Overcoat and Lahiri’s The Namesake (common themes‚ the question of “finding oneself‚” finding one’s subjectivity); the construction of the immigrant‚ racial “Other” in the immigrant narratives (in Lahiri and/or Chehade); the problem of naming in Lahiri’s The Namesake; the sociopolitical context and its incorporation into Fuller’s memoir narrative; the inversion of the problem of racism in
Premium Nikolai Gogol The Namesake The Overcoat