The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri - 1214 Words

Jhumpa Lahiri’s â€Å"The Namesake† examines an immigrant bengali family that has moved from India to America, and tries to hold their bengali culture while trying to accept American lifestyles. Ashima and Gogol each struggle with their cultural identity throughout Lahiri’s novel. The pressure of western society and the crisis of losing one’s culture and identity is demonstrated through the characterization and Gogol and Ashima’s relationships while living in America. Ashima is Gogol’s mother, who moved to America for her husband Ashoke after they were arranged for marriage. Ashima misses her family and life back in Calcutta, she has trouble setting in to the American lifestyles. â€Å"On more than one occasion [Ashoke] has come home from the university to find her morose, in bed, rereading her parents’ letters.† Ashima feels lonely and homesick. Ashima tries to keep Bengali tradition by always wearing a sari and a bindi in her forehead, and always cooking an Indian dinner. â€Å"For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy — a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been ordinary life, only to discover that that previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding.† (49) In America, Ashima is surrounded by people she does not know, and she does not qu ite feel that she fits in. There are new customs and a new way of doingShow MoreRelatedThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri990 Words   |  4 PagesArwa Ghanim English 1A March 30, 2015 The Namesake Introduction The Namesake† by Jhumpa Lahiri, has a wide range of topics that are brought upon the peruser all through the book and motion picture. A few subjects that are identified with this story are Identity, Relationships in the middle of youngsters and their guardians, Regret, Loneliness, Language, Expectations, Cultural Differences, Immigrant Experience, Values and Beliefs, and Death and Mourning. Thesis Statement What moment or decisionRead MoreThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri1304 Words   |  6 PagesThe choices one makes dictates the life they lead. In her novel The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri reflects on the world of the Ganguli family. One particular character, Gogol Ganguli becomes the main focus as Lahiri takes us through his assimilation process, and how he tries to achieve the goal of being socially accepted. Lahiri illustrates the development of Gogol’s quest for his true cultural identity through his personal struggles: his name, his romantic relationships, and his father’s untimely deathRead MoreThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri1309 Words   |  6 Pagesface certain obstacles that come their way. Some run away in fear, and others face them head on, The people that face these obstacles are the ones that get more out of life and therefore are ready for what other obstacles might come their way . The Namesake, is a book about how life can be difficult in a new country for immigr ants trying to raise a son with mixed cultures. Gogol, the son of these immigrant parents grows up wanting to assimilate himself in this new cultural but ultimately seeking toRead MoreThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri922 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"I’m Nikhil† (Jhumpa Lahiri 96) these are the words that Gogol uttered for the first time in his life. The theme of name and identity in Lahiri’s novel the Namesake is obvious. Which is used throughout the novel. In the first chapter Ashima recalls that she never â€Å"calls out for her husband†. An important theme of name and identity is introduced in the first chapter when Ashima calls her husband but not by name. Bengali tradition is one of many that relates to the importance of a mans nameRead MoreThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri992 Words   |  4 PagesFor some people finding out who they are is not exactly the hardest thing to do in the world, some know it from the moment they are born. There are, however, also other people who have to struggle and search for their identities. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is the story of a boy who does just that. It focuses on the Ganguli’s, a Bengali family, who, after moving homes from India to the United States, struggle to uphold a delicate balance between honoring the traditions of their heritage and assimilatingRead MoreThe Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri1725 Words   |  7 Pageseasy thing to discover, and it is forever changing and growing. The search for one’s identity is not a painless journey, but it is often worth it in the end. As is the case for Gogol Ganguli, one of the main protagonists in the novel The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Throughout the novel, Gogo l is in search for his identity and for meaning behind his name. Names were a large struggle for Gogol, who spent about half of the novel under the name Nikhil. He even ended up developing a bit of a split personalityRead MoreThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Essay1226 Words   |  5 PagesThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake illustrates the assimilation of Gogol as a second generation American immigrant, where Gogol faces the assimilation of becoming an American. Throughout the novel, Gogol has been struggling with his name. From kindergarten to college, Gogol has questioned the reason why he was called Nikhil when he was a child, to the reason why he was called Gogol when he was in college. Having a Russian name, Gogol often encounters questions from peopleRead MoreThe Book The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri3092 Words   |  13 Pagesother person where you communicate with your first native language; you interact with family regularly with manners, traditions and culture. It s really difficult to have two identities and do not know who you really are, in the book The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri author, demonstrates the theme of how hard it is to find an identity in America. The protagonist of the book Gogol, during his childhood went through many difficult stages related to his identity and find himself like another charactersRead More The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Essay1089 Words   |  5 PagesThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Living in America, the Ganguli’s have the difficult choice of choosing between two dramatically different cultures. As a second generation Indian American, Gogol Ganguli is expected to preserve theRead MoreThe Novel The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri1358 Words   |  6 Pageswithout any restrictions or barriers? In her novel The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri explores this question by depicting the life of a family migrated from India. Gogol and Sonia, who were born in America after their parent came to this new country, act like Americans and even have difficult y to learn Bengali. However, as time passes by, they gradually generate a sense of connection to India and begin to speak Bengali or act like Indian ways. Like Lahiri, Tanveer Ali also illustrates an â€Å"invader† of American