The Namesake Research Paper

In some situations, people can make their friends or significant others accustomed to traditions that they usually would not do, but in other relationships, the one individual can make the other accustomed to their culture once again. Being accustomed to other traditions can be important to modernize and adapt to the current environment, but a person should never forget their roots and should always keep something from what they learned at home. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is a novel in which the main character, Gogol Ganguli, goes through many obstacles that conflict with his culture; the primary barrier is his name. At first, he strictly wants to be Gogol because that is what he was used to in the house, but as he grows older, he realizes …show more content…
When they moved in together, they developed a routine they both followed. They bought their one bedroom apartment strictly because they loved the little details of the architecture and lobby, but they were happy to be together and “They eat most nights side by side on the stools at the kitchen counter or at the coffee table, watching TV” (Lahiri 229). Being newlyweds means that the two will want to be together and experience the feeling of actually being married for the first time. It may not be the best habits that they develop, but they are habits that they both enjoy with each other. Although Gogol was used to eating as a family without watching television, Moushumi teaches him that it is okay and that there is not anything wrong with it. Another thing Gogol does is “He calls every evening before leaving the office to say he is on his way home, asks is he needs to pick up lettuce or a loaf of bread” (229). Gogol enjoys the comfort of being married to someone; he enjoys all the new traditions they will have and all the new things they will do together. He especially looked forward to the days where he will do these things with a special girl. Not only does he do new things with Moushumi but he develops his mixed lifestyle between his culture, the American culture, and the European lifestyle as well. Gogol grew up in a Bengali household, but that did not stop Moushumi from teaching him how to live …show more content…
She hated living in America so when she went to college “she’d pursued a double major in French” (214). Taking four secretive years of French study made her immerse into a third culture she could call her own because it could not claim her like the American and Bengali culture could. The French culture was her refuge and a way out of living up to her parents’ expectations. She first introduces Gogol to the culture when “In March they go to Paris” (230). She is there because she needs to present a paper at a conference and Gogol decides to go with her to make a vacation out of the trip. Moushumi has to stay and write her paper, but she prepares a route on a map for Gogol to go sightseeing and experience the old culture and see the reason as to why she loves Europe, specifically France, so much. She saw all of Paris and would like to witness it again, but she does not want to give off the vibe of a tourist, so when Gogol explains to her, she thoroughly understands his love for the country's capital. Since French was her third culture, she wanted her significant other to figure out why she loved it so much and why it was her way out of her regular studies, and she accomplished that with Gogol. Gogol also got the chance to experience his wife’s love for the city while she was