Gogol’s Namesake: Identity and Relationships in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake Author: Judith Caesar Allusions to Nikolai V. Gogol and his short story "The Overcoat" permeate Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake‚ beginning with Gogol’s being the name the protagonist is called through most of the book. Yet few of the reviewers of the novel mentioned Nikolai Gogol at all in their discussions of the novel‚ except to describe the protagonist Gogol’s loathing of his name‚ or to quote without comment or
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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
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Gogul first didn’t want to change his name. (young) Then grew up realized the name is the name of a crazy‚ loner author ( but also a genius). His father was a fan. He read one of the author’s book during a fatal tcar crash he was in. Being the only survivor. After the train crash‚ he got married to Gogul’s mother. They moved to ny. Had Gogul and Sonia(younger sis). Gogul grew up. Believed his name is strange‚ easy to be made fun of. He told his father he’d like to change his name to Nikhel‚ his good
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Form B Outline Cultural collisions can draw attention to characters as they struggle between their personal cultural identity. These collisions often cause an individual to question who they are. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake ‚ the author explores how cultural collision can affect a specific character: Gogol. Lahiri demonstrates the theme of finding one’s identity by displaying the protagonist Gogol’s cultural collisions in each stage of his life. In each period of his life‚ Gogol
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There is never one main character that is the cause of every aspect of the story; secondary characters are just as important. In the case of the Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri‚ Ashoke plays an important part of the overall work being a secondary character. Not only does Ashoke’s crash in the train launch the events leading up to the upbringing of the family‚ but Ashoke’s death also unifies the family and allows the family to grow. The accident with the train brought up within the first pages of the
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Caught between Two Worlds: The Search for Cultural Identity in Lahiri’s The Namesake Titien Diah Soelistyarini Abstract The question of identity is always a difficult one for those living in one culture‚ yet belonging to another. This question frequently lingers in the mind of most immigrants‚ especially the second generations who were born in a country other than their parents’ motherland. They feel culturally displaced as they are simultaneously living in two cultures. On the one hand‚ they
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Stylistically simple yet thematically complex‚ thoroughly unique yet clearly universal‚ strikingly imaginative yet distinctly real‚ Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake emotionally captivates the reader as it explores the cultural‚ generational‚ and personal conflicts faced by Gogol Ganguli‚ the son of Indian-American immigrants. As a young man‚ his father‚ Ashoke‚ nearly died in a train accident‚ breaking multiple bones in his lower body and temporarily developing paralysis. Before it occurred‚ he was reading
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The Idea of Home In the novel‚ “The Namesake” Gogol is trying to search for his identity and who he wants to be but she is also searching for the definition of a home. He has moved so many times that he started not seeing them as homes‚ but just a place they would have been staying at for a while. The definition of a home is a place that you feel happy at because of all the memories you have. A home is a place where you are loved and you know you are safe and not judged. Gogol does not know how
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Literary Analysis-The Namesake The important theme of naming and identity is introduced at the very beginning‚ when Ashima calls out for her husband. She does not use his name when she calls for him‚ since "it’s not the type of thing Bengali wives do" (Lahiri‚ J. p. 2). Their husbands’ names are considered too intimate to be used. The Bengali tradition of pet names and "good" names. Only close family uses the pet name in the privacy of the home‚ while the "good" name is used in formal situations
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The Namesake The movie The Namesake explored many issues with regards to culture and the relationships in which we create within different cultures. Throughout the movie issues with parents‚ partners‚ different cultures and death all play a key role in purveying the messages the director wanted to get across. When the Ganguli family has to move from India to New York we see how relationships change and how Ashima has to change in order to adapt to the American lifestyle. Gogol who is Ashima’s
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