1B 08 March 2013 Gogol Versus Nikhil Gogol grapples with his name throughout the majority of the novel‚ yet this tension was in the makings even before his birth. Ashoke and Ashima being immigrants set Gogol up to live in 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
Premium The Namesake Nikolai Gogol Jhumpa Lahiri
Gogol as the Perfect Namesake In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake‚ Indian parents bestow a Russian name to their first born baby boy; the name is Gogol Ganguli which is after the famous Russian writer‚ Nikolai V. Gogol. In Lahiri’s novel‚ the main character fights an identity crisis because of his highly unusual name. Gogol carries uncertainty about himself throughout the novel because of his name‚ “He hates his name . . . that is has nothing to do with who he is‚ that it is neither Indian nor
Premium Nikolai Gogol The Namesake The Overcoat
The character Gogol in the book The Namesake is a dynamic character. Gogol is a dynamic because of many reasons‚ the most evident being his attitude to his family. Gogol’s attitude and feeling toward his family is a great example of Gogol being a dynamic character because he is always having thoughts of how embarrassing his family is as well as just disregarding his parents’ concern and love for him‚ but sadly his father passes away and he becomes more appreciative of his family and more home
Premium
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‚ Gogol’s name distances
Premium
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 two cultures can only be solved by constantly evolving your identity‚ and that the borders of a country do not limit this process. Gogol Ganguli has an internal conflict regarding his identity;
Premium The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Culture
The Namesake has a connection to belonging as if deals with the disconnection of the Ganguli’s. The theme of alienation and the search for belonging between the two cultures is represented through the shifts between the two countries; where Ashoke and Ashima move to America growing their children up in an American society but teaching them Bengali traditions. Lahiri uses techniques such as symbols to illustrate the sense of belonging and not belonging. Throughout the novel‚ the composer of the
Premium
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 dictates that every new born should be given two names‚ a pet name‚ and a good name. The pet
Premium Nikolai Gogol The Namesake Culture
To Be or Not To Be Throughout the novel‚ The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri‚ the character Gogol changes in many different ways. One of the most apparent changes was in his "Indian ness". By "Indian ness" I mean the amount of his parents Bengali ways and traditions that he retained. While growing up he did everything in his power while growing up to stray away from his parents’ Bengali ways. Gogol spent most of his life trying to differ from his parents‚ however in the end he ends up obeying their
Premium Nikolai Gogol The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why does Gogol go to Cleveland? What does he do there? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Premium Nikolai Gogol The Namesake
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
Premium Nikolai Gogol Woman The Namesake