The Namesake Belonging Essay

Cultural traditions, migration, family and identity are issues which emerge throughout the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. How have various literary techniques been used to show that these issues play a major role in an individual experiencing a sense of belonging or not belonging.

It is evident that a number of issues can greatly affect a person’s sense of belonging in particular personal experiences and cultural background. Throughout Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake a number of these issues emerge and have been presented to play a major role in an individual discovering their true identity while concurrently experiencing a sense of belonging or not belonging. A range of various literary techniques including intertextuality, motifs and juxtaposition have been utilised throughout the novel to illustrate the factors that influence a person’s sense of belonging and in some cases a person’s sense of isolation.

The reference to the short story The Overcoat written by Ashoke’s favourite author Nikolai Gogol has been used as both a motif and a form of intertextuality throughout the novel. The Overcoat is first mentioned in chapter one when Ashoke recalls his near death experience in a train accident. It is believed that
It is also used to emphasise the affect cultural traditions, migration, family and identity have on a person’s sense of belonging. The American culture is greatly contrasted to the traditional Bengali culture to which the Ganguli’s belong to. The two cultures are vastly different in many aspects of life including food, morals and family simply to name a few. The Ganguli’s diaspora from Calcutta has resulted in their sense of disconnection and isolation from society as well as from their family back home. Their lifestyle back home within the Bengali culture has been greatly compared to the lifestyle which they now live in