The Struggle In The Namesake

The title The Namesake reflects the struggle of Gogol Ganguli, son of Ashoke and Ashima, Indian immigrants to the U.S.A. to get identity in the culture where he is born and brought up with his unusual name. Names do have some meaning in India. A lot of practice is done when a child is named in India. An Indian child generally carries two names, a pet name and an official one. Pet names are for the family and neighbours and acquaintances. They carry or may not carry meaning. But official names are kept with a lot of care and practice.
Ashoke Ganguli gives the name Gogol after the Russian author whose book or a page once had been served as a saviour of his life. He named his son Gogol for three reasons. Ashoke and his wife are waiting for the official name to come from India as to follow Bengali tradition. They have not thought of any name/s
On the other hand, the problem for the children of immigrants – those with strong ties to their country of origin – is that they feel neither one thing nor the other. This has been my experience, in any case. For example, I never know how to answer the question: “Where are you from?” If I say I’m from Rhode Island, people are seldom satisfied. They want to know more, based on things such as my name, my appearance, etc. Alternatively, if I say I’m from India, a place where I was not born and have never lived, this is also inaccurate. It bothers me less now. But it bothered me growing up, the feeling that there was no single place to which I fully belonged” (Book Browse, 2007).But as a teen he wishes to change his school. After changing the name, there is only one complication: “He doesn’t feel like Nikhil. Not yet…. But after 18 years of Gogol, two months of Nikhil feels scant, inconsequential” (Lahiri,