essential to an individual’s identity‚ and plays a significant role throughout one’s life. The significance of both name and identity is evident in “The Namesake” as it is applicable to all characters throughout the book. In particular‚ the character‚ Gogol Ganguli‚ which the book is based around‚ is born in America to Bengali parents‚ who immigrated from India. Gogol’s confusion over his cultural identity impacts his life choices‚ consequently‚ impacting the connection he has with his family. Bengali culture
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Tommy Tran English 4 1/6/14 The Namesake Jump Lahiri used woman as a literary device‚ “foil”‚ in her novel The Namesake to help contrast with the protagonist‚ Nikhil “Gogol” Ganguli in order to shape his identity. There were quite a few women that came and went through Gogol’s life span in the novel but three essential women were his mother‚ a woman by the name Maxine‚ and his first wife‚ Moushumi. The literary device that is being used allows the women to either be completely different‚ or
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reader is thrust into the daily life of Gogol Ganguli. Gogol is a promising young man from a Bengali family‚ which the reader gets the pleasure of knowing since his birth. Ever since Gogol’s childhood all he ever wanted was to find a place where he could truly fit in‚ whether it be in his own culture‚ or in the American one in which he lives. During his life‚ Gogol searches everywhere to find out who he is and where he belongs. During his long search‚ young Gogol meets a beautiful‚ New York Intellectual
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account of the Ganguli family‚ an Indian American family of educated‚ middle-class Bengali immigrants. Torn between two cultures and two worlds‚ the Ganguli ’s live in Suburban Massachusetts. Ashoke and Ashimi Ganguli have two children‚ Gogol and Sonia. The caste system in India impacts the lives of Ashoke and Ashimi‚ whose marriage is arranged‚ but in suburban Massachusetts such distinctions are undermined through the common ties of class and ethnicity. Nonetheless‚ for Gogol Ganguli‚ born in Massachusetts
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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‚ Gogol’s name distances him from his roots. As a child‚ Gogol puts
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traditions will be lost. Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake highlights this struggle through the eyes of the Ganguli family. The novel ultimately shows us that one can simultaneously belong to two cultures‚ in this case Indian and American culture. Many scholars are hung up on the fact that protagonist Gogol must belong to one culture or the other. Heinze’s “Diasporic Overcoat?” suggests that Gogol puts on an “overcoat” through the switching of his name to represent the switching of his identity across
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circumstance he struggles to fit in both the America society and his Bengali home as he feels his name does not belong in either culture. On page 100 we see Gogol’s frustration with his name‚ “the only person who didn’t take Gogol seriously‚ the only person who tormented him.. was Gogol..” Here the author has demonstrated to the reader that nobody else judges him for his name‚ yet he feels that he does not belong. This reflects Gogol’s insecurity with his name making him feel out of place in both cultures
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Genre: Growing Up‚ Family Drama Themes: Identity: In The Namesake‚ everybody is seems lost under various terms . Every character struggles with his or her identity‚ as they feel allured by the different cultures‚ traditions‚ and personal ambition. Gogol‚ in particular‚ is torn between two cultures – the Indian traditions of his parents and the modern American culture in which he grows up. His struggle is the same one that his sister Sonia goes through. It’s also related to the struggle his parents
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predominantly involves the collision between the two cultures American and Bengali. It not only determines the clash between the different generations but also vivid ideologies affecting the lives of middle class family and especially the life of Gogol. Jhumpa Lahiri tries her best to portray the lifestyle of a very simple Bengali Family residing in abroad away from their homeland India in a simple yet elegant way. The main purpose of writing this research paper is to reveal the interstitial intricacies
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Quote 1 They’ve learned their lesson after Gogol. They’ve learned that schools in America will ignore parents’ instructions and register a child under his pet name. The only way to avoid such confusion‚ they have concluded‚ is to do away with the pet name altogether‚ as many of their Bengali friends have done. (3.56) Poor Gogol. As the first born‚ he’s the guinea pig for Ashoke and Ashima. The lessons they learn from raising him prepare them for the challenges of raising their second child‚ who
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