Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Namesake - Compare and Contrast Essay
Experiences and overcoming conflicts can either help one achieve self realization or hinder their view of himself. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, both Janie and Gogol Ganguli struggle to find their true identity due to a lack of support from their relationships, societal discrimination and negative experiences. Ultimately, both Janie and Gogol are able to overcome these obstacles through determination which helps them achieve self-realization. Firstly, Janie and Gogol are hindered from achieving self-realization due to having unsupportive relationships. In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jodie’s demoralizing …show more content…
Gogol’s second girlfriend Maxine is very controlling in their relationship. After the death of Gogol 's Father, he decides to spend time with his mother, this causes conflicts with Maxine as she believes that “You guys can’t stay with your mother forever” (Lahiri, 193). Gogol realizes that he has to take up the role as the man of the family due to the absence of his mother. In Maxine’s perception Gogol is a part of her family and she attempts to bring him back home. Maxine simply concludes that Gogol cannot stay with his mother forever in an attempt to separate them. In doing so, Gogol is left confused as to what his true role is, whether he is the man of his family or Maxine’s boyfriend. As a result, Gogol is unsure what his true identity really is. In addition, the lack of communication between Gogol and his father Ashok leaves him confused about his true identity. Throughout the majority part of this story, Gogol does not know the reason behind his namesake. He initially does not ask his dad for the reason behind his name as they do not seem to communicate very much. After several years of being confused about who he truly is, his dad finally tells him the reason behind his namesake. Had he known this information earlier, things might have been much less conflicting and simplified. As a result, Gogol was left to struggle for several years trying to figure out his true identity due to the lack of communication with his father. Both Janie and Gogol 's path to achieving self realization is heavily impacted due to the lack of support from their relationships. The possessive nature of their relationships and lack of communication makes it harder for them to find their true
Experiences and overcoming conflicts can either help one achieve self realization or hinder their view of himself. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, both Janie and Gogol Ganguli struggle to find their true identity due to a lack of support from their relationships, societal discrimination and negative experiences. Ultimately, both Janie and Gogol are able to overcome these obstacles through determination which helps them achieve self-realization. Firstly, Janie and Gogol are hindered from achieving self-realization due to having unsupportive relationships. In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jodie’s demoralizing …show more content…
Gogol’s second girlfriend Maxine is very controlling in their relationship. After the death of Gogol 's Father, he decides to spend time with his mother, this causes conflicts with Maxine as she believes that “You guys can’t stay with your mother forever” (Lahiri, 193). Gogol realizes that he has to take up the role as the man of the family due to the absence of his mother. In Maxine’s perception Gogol is a part of her family and she attempts to bring him back home. Maxine simply concludes that Gogol cannot stay with his mother forever in an attempt to separate them. In doing so, Gogol is left confused as to what his true role is, whether he is the man of his family or Maxine’s boyfriend. As a result, Gogol is unsure what his true identity really is. In addition, the lack of communication between Gogol and his father Ashok leaves him confused about his true identity. Throughout the majority part of this story, Gogol does not know the reason behind his namesake. He initially does not ask his dad for the reason behind his name as they do not seem to communicate very much. After several years of being confused about who he truly is, his dad finally tells him the reason behind his namesake. Had he known this information earlier, things might have been much less conflicting and simplified. As a result, Gogol was left to struggle for several years trying to figure out his true identity due to the lack of communication with his father. Both Janie and Gogol 's path to achieving self realization is heavily impacted due to the lack of support from their relationships. The possessive nature of their relationships and lack of communication makes it harder for them to find their true