Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake follows the story of a rebellious Bengali boy named Gogol who struggles to find his own identity. While searching for a new identity, Gogol sacrifices his former self and conforms to the beliefs of those around him, causing him to become disconnected from his family and his Bengali roots. The choices that Gogol makes, such as his decisions to change his name, push away from his family, and disconnect himself from his culture, establish the themes of identity, family, and love that shape the story as a whole.
Since he was a small child, Gogol has resented his family’s unique cultural traditions. Gogol carries this resentment throughout his life and constantly attempts to deny his Bengali roots so that he can embrace …show more content…
Going against his parents’ will, he dates Ruth and Maxine. His parents respond by “point[ing] out examples of Bengali men they know who've married Americans” whose marriages “have ended in divorce”(61). Gogol reacts to his parents’ warnings by admitting “that marriage is the last thing on his mind”(61), which causes even more tension between him and his parents. Gogol’s parents, Ashima and Ashoke, have a very different notion of love and marriage than Gogol and do not want him to date American women. Love to them is tied to marriage and families. Gogol, on the other hand, seeks sex rather than a healthy marriage and family …show more content…
After finding out the roots of his name and learning about the story of his father, a man “who has kept a secret” and “has survived a tragedy”(126), Gogol begins to focus on the fact that his father has been hiding his tragic accident from him his whole life and labels his father as a secretive stranger. This is one of the beginning stages of Gogol detaching himself from his father and family. At a certain point, Gogol refuses “to go home on the weekends, to go with [his parents] to pujos and Bengali parties” (126). Unlike Gogol’s parents, who would have sacrificed their lives to return to their parents and families, Gogol wants to create as much distance between himself and his parents as possible. While Gogol does eventually realize that his parents love and care for him and that distancing himself from his parents has not brought him any satisfaction, he spends much time at the beginning of the novel trying to get away from his parents and their foreign
Since he was a small child, Gogol has resented his family’s unique cultural traditions. Gogol carries this resentment throughout his life and constantly attempts to deny his Bengali roots so that he can embrace …show more content…
Going against his parents’ will, he dates Ruth and Maxine. His parents respond by “point[ing] out examples of Bengali men they know who've married Americans” whose marriages “have ended in divorce”(61). Gogol reacts to his parents’ warnings by admitting “that marriage is the last thing on his mind”(61), which causes even more tension between him and his parents. Gogol’s parents, Ashima and Ashoke, have a very different notion of love and marriage than Gogol and do not want him to date American women. Love to them is tied to marriage and families. Gogol, on the other hand, seeks sex rather than a healthy marriage and family …show more content…
After finding out the roots of his name and learning about the story of his father, a man “who has kept a secret” and “has survived a tragedy”(126), Gogol begins to focus on the fact that his father has been hiding his tragic accident from him his whole life and labels his father as a secretive stranger. This is one of the beginning stages of Gogol detaching himself from his father and family. At a certain point, Gogol refuses “to go home on the weekends, to go with [his parents] to pujos and Bengali parties” (126). Unlike Gogol’s parents, who would have sacrificed their lives to return to their parents and families, Gogol wants to create as much distance between himself and his parents as possible. While Gogol does eventually realize that his parents love and care for him and that distancing himself from his parents has not brought him any satisfaction, he spends much time at the beginning of the novel trying to get away from his parents and their foreign