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 completely similar with a little twist. These three women are so important during the novel because they all play a huge role in Gogol’s destiny of finding himself and appreciating where he came from. An important part of this story is the tragic event that happened with Ashoke Ganguli that almost took his life. In 1961 Ashoke was in a terrible train accident and during the wreck he was reading a series of short stories by a Russian author, Nikolai Gogol. In 1968, Ashima Ganguli is about to give birth to her first child with her newly wedded husband Ashoke. They were one of few Bengali couples in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Being Bengali, it was tradition for them to wait for a letter from Ashima’s grandmother with the name of the newborn child. Well they never end up receiving the letter and end up giving the child the pet, Gogol, on the birth certificate until they heard from the grandmother. Turns out that Ashimas grandmother’s letter was lost and she dearly sick. Once Gogol goes to go to school, his parents give him the name Nikhil. In 1971 his sister Sonia is born. When Gogol turns fourteen, Ashoke gives him the Nikolai Gogol series that means so much to him, but Gogol didn’t seem to have any interest. Then once Gogol read the story “The Overcoat” in his junior year of high school, he becomes ashamed and confused of his name and before going to college he changes his name to Nikhil. Nikhil attends Yale and starts to drift away from his culture to the American
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 completely similar with a little twist. These three women are so important during the novel because they all play a huge role in Gogol’s destiny of finding himself and appreciating where he came from. An important part of this story is the tragic event that happened with Ashoke Ganguli that almost took his life. In 1961 Ashoke was in a terrible train accident and during the wreck he was reading a series of short stories by a Russian author, Nikolai Gogol. In 1968, Ashima Ganguli is about to give birth to her first child with her newly wedded husband Ashoke. They were one of few Bengali couples in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Being Bengali, it was tradition for them to wait for a letter from Ashima’s grandmother with the name of the newborn child. Well they never end up receiving the letter and end up giving the child the pet, Gogol, on the birth certificate until they heard from the grandmother. Turns out that Ashimas grandmother’s letter was lost and she dearly sick. Once Gogol goes to go to school, his parents give him the name Nikhil. In 1971 his sister Sonia is born. When Gogol turns fourteen, Ashoke gives him the Nikolai Gogol series that means so much to him, but Gogol didn’t seem to have any interest. Then once Gogol read the story “The Overcoat” in his junior year of high school, he becomes ashamed and confused of his name and before going to college he changes his name to Nikhil. Nikhil attends Yale and starts to drift away from his culture to the American