Who Is Gogol's Cultural Identity?

In some point of our lives, we all try to find our identities; try to find a place that we can fit in completely. Most people struggle, some does not. The question of identity is especially difficult for immigrants and their coming generations since they have different cultures and different views. In the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the main character Gogol struggles with his cultural identity due to the ideological difference between him and his parents on the concept of name.
According to Bengali naming traditions, everyone has two names, a pet name and a good name. The good name is for the public to use, the pet name is for family and friends to use in private places, it is also “a persistent remnant of childhood, a reminder that
life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people” (26). Different traditions represent different cultures; In the United States, many people name their son after the father or the grandfather to honor the elders and also act as a symbol of heritage. On another hand in India, every name is sacred and cannot be inherited. Ashima and Ashoke decided to name their first child Gogol, this name doesn’t just represent the life of this child, it also represents the life of the father-Ashoke. However, this shapeless and weightless name has become a burden of Gogol’s life for a long long time.
The first lesson that Gogol learns about his names is at the town’s public elementary school.
At first, he does not want to go to kindergarten because his parents have told him that he will be call a new name-Nikhil at school which he does not want and does not understand. “He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn’t know” (57). Of course, he is not the only one who doesn’t understand about the pet name and the good name. When Ashoke tries to explain to the principal Mrs. Lapidus about why they want her to call Gogol Nikhil, Mrs. Lapidus tries to understand, but ends up in confusion due to the cultural difference. “I’m not sure I follow you, Mr. Ganguli. Do you mean that Nikhil is a middle name? Or a nickname? Many of the children go by nicknames here” (58). She has never deal with this issue before, even with the other Indian students at school. And the big problem with this is that Gogol does not respond to the name Nikhil. Therefore, Mrs. Lapidus decides to ask Gogol about his own opinion towards this new name, Gogol shakes his head as his answer, so Mrs. Lapidus writes a note to Ashima and Ashoke telling them Gogol will be known as “Gogol” instead of “Nikhil” at school due to his preference. In here, Gogol is just a kid who doesn’t understand about his culture, but at the same time, the author is trying to hint us that even though Gogol is an Indian looking kid, he is Americanized; his thoughts are very different from his parents who are typical Indians. And in the
United States, his parents’ thoughts are not so accepted which increases the gap between Gogol and his parents.
As Gogol is getting older, he then realizes how unusual his name is.
As an Indian-American, his name is neither Indian nor American, but Russian. He does not know about the story behind his name yet, all he knows is that he starts to hate his name. Before he goes to college, he decides to change his name to Nikhil officially. It seems like he believes that changing his name would make him who he wants to be. So he goes home and asks for his parents’ opinion and complaints about his name. “I don’t get it. Why did you have to give me a pet name in the first place? What’s the point?” “It’s our way, Gogol,” his mother maintained. “It’s what Bengalis do” (99). Until this point, Gogol still doesn’t accept this naming tradition because he feels inferior for his name. However, “The only person who didn’t take Gogol seriously, the only person who tormented him, the only person chronically aware of and afflicted by the embarrassment of his name, the only person who constantly questioned it and wished it were otherwise, was Gogol” (100). The conversation ends with a sentence by Ashoke, “In America anything is possible. Do as you wish” (100). This sentence sounds normal, but it is filled with helplessness and sadness. Ashima and Ashoke can’t change anything, they are just two Indians living in America, no one cares about them, not even their son. “They have no choice but to give in”
(60).
Now, he is officially “Nikhil”, but “Gogol” is still like a splinter in his heart. He doesn’t want to touch it, doesn’t like to talk about it, but the dull pain inside his heart always reminds him that it’s there. After Ashoke’s death, he learns to seize the time with Ashima. But when he knows that Ashima is planning to move back to India, he suddenly realizes that “Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist. Yet the thought of this eventual demise provides no sense of victory, no solace. It provides no solace at all" (289). He finally realizes that as he gets mature, his love once are getting older too. His name will die just like the people. This shows that finally accepted himself as a whole, and this name is part of him. Maybe “Gogol” is not who he wants to be, but “Gogol” is who he really is.
Ashima and Ashoke are the first generation immigrants, they consider themselves Indians, but learning to adjust their minds and live like Americans. Struggles are parts of their daily lives. Gogol, as an American born Indian, he has an Indian appearance, but growing up in America and getting American education make him a real American inside. “Living with a pet name and a good name, in a place where such distinctions do not exist-surely that was emblematic of the greatest confusion of all” (118). No wonder, the quest for identity is exhausting, but eventually, you will get to the destination. Open your mind, accepts who you really are, life is beautiful.