The Namesake

The Namesake, a novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a very unique and interesting novel that really left a deep impression on me. The novel explains the difficulties of an Indian family adapting to a new culture and environment as they make the change from India to America. The Ganguli family members each try their best to adapt to the new environment, some of which do better than others. This is the story of the novel, but its most interesting component is in the main character Gogol, or Nikhil. The Indian tradition is for a person to have two names, a pet name and a formal name. The pet name is only supposed to be used by family members and relatives. The formal name is the person's name in public, or what most people call them. Gogol is the main character's pet name, and Nikhil is his formal name. His father names him Gogol due to the fact that his father was severely injured in a train accident, and a book written by the famous author Gogol is what got him noticed by rescuers and eventually saved his life. Through a series of events, it becomes his real name, or his name in public as well due to the fact that he refuses to go by the name Nikhil in public. But, as he gets older, he becomes very shy and basically embarrassed of his name. In one scene, he goes to a party where he kisses a girl and tells her his name is Nikhil. This change of name used by Lahiri really creates a very interesting theme, because now this character has two personas, two identities. After the party, Nikhil states that Gogol did not kiss that girl, Nikhil did. We then learn that he changes his name formally to Nikhil and goes by that name throughout college and afterward, and once he changes his name he becomes an open and social person. So, just based on a name change, a character evolved from a shy, anti-social person to someone who is both open and confident. One identity is based upon the traditions of India and its heritage, whereas the other is breaking apart from that culture and conforming to that of its new society. Lahiri uses this conflict of identities perfectly throughout the novel, as Nikhil slowly grows apart from his family and heritage the longer he has the name Nikhil. As Nikhil, he is an American who is just as much a part of the culture as anyone. He is well liked, he dates plenty of women, and he starts to become successful. As Gogol, he is Indian, he is a part of a tradition, and he is uncomfortable. This changing of names symbolizes the Americanization that occurs when immigrants move to the United States, as well as the conflicts and issues that go along with it. Each name represents a different culture, and the effects of Gogol's name change symbolize the changes that an immigrant faces when he or she moves to a new country. This relates to me because as a Jewish American, I have many Jewish relatives who moved from very Jewish, European communities to America. They also had many issues in terms of traditions and cultural issues because Jewish communities are very rigid about keeping them. Here, many of them did not fit in well due to these customs, similarly to how Gogol felt. They have both Hebrew names and American names, just like Gogol does, which connect them to each culture respectively. They started to connect more with the American community when they let go of all their traditions and embraced their new society, which to me is what Gogol's name change truly represents. Lahiri is showing the controversy and difficulty of changing cultures and customs through Gogol's name change and how he changes based on which name he goes by.  She shows the full immigrant experience in a way very few other authors have been able to portray. Once he changes his name he is more comfortable with himself because he feels connected to the American society. This conflict between the two personas is what interested me most about the novel, because it really showed me the issues many immigrants have to face when it comes to tradition and heritage, and also made me think of my own family and the similarities. It is a conflict between conforming to a new society or keeping a tradition that is not practiced by anyone else in that society. The power of a name, Lahiri feels, is the ability to reinvent oneself, to become someone new, which is what Gogol does when he becomes Nikhil. In this case, changing names makes Gogol become more American, more a part of society.  Many immigrants are forced to reinvent themselves in order to succeed in their new society, which is what Gogol's change in names is representing. This, to me, is the most interesting part of The Namesake as it shows the conflicts faced by many immigrants just by using something as simple as a name.