The Namesake Essay

The six sociological concepts that best fit this movie are subculture, resocialization, role conflict, value contradictions, cultural relativism, and empty nest. 1. Subculture- a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests and variance with those of the larger culture (Henslin, p.368). After Ashima and Ashoke get married, they move from Calcutta, India to New York, where Ashoke finishes school and gets a good job. Their residence in America becomes permanent because Ashoke wants their kids to have freedom to choose what they want to become in life and that is where his career is. The Ganguli family is a subculture in America because they are Indian and have a different religion and beliefs than most people in America. 2. Resocialization- the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors (Henslin, p.90). Ashima was born and raised in India where she learned the Bengali culture and values. She never traveled outside of India ever so when she moved to New York she had to learn new norms and behaviors that fit into the American culture. Ashima had to learn the cultural differences such as the food, the cold weather, and being in a large city where the language is different and the attitudes and behaviors of people are much unlike the people in India. She also had to deal with not having family around all the time. Ashoke was busy studying and working many hours