The Namesake-Week 7 Post B (aka last blog ever)

It has been a long journey through the beginning to the end of "The Namesake." The Ganguli's went from an almost culture shock to pretty much becoming apart of the culture. Along with the many culture changes, Ashima and Ashoke have also gone through the raising of their two offspring, Gogol and Sonia Ganguli. I think that through these experiences a theme of finding where you belong, who you are, and what makes you... you,  is present.  Gogol tries to find his way in America, resisting something that will always be apart of him, his family's background and culture, Ashima tries to find her way in America and a place to belong, longing for her home country, and Sonia is too trying to find her way while Ashoke is the least weary about the country. He finds an equanimity in America, not indifferent to either culture or to what the rest of his family is going through. He just does what he can to help them through. 

I thought that this book was beautifully and also expertly written. Jhumpa Lahiri has great poise and a very elegant style of writing, making the reader feel as though they are going through all of this with the Ganguli's themselves. There is also a level of understanding and recognition with what Gogol is going through. Most of us can relate to a time when we were trying to find who we were, fighting the influence of others, so we can only feel sympathy for Gogol because of our knowledge of how rough these times can be. 

What this novel was mostly about though was Gogol's first-generation upbringing in a society very much unlike his heritage. It shows his struggles as he grows up with the pressure of the expectations our parents bestow onto us. Also the importance of the names we are given and the slow and painful journey to defining ourselves. 

The Namesake-Week 7 Post A (aka second to last blog ever)

It has been a long journey from the beginning of "The Namesake" until its very end.  From before Gogol was born until the time he is a grown man, we see the never ending cultural differences and changes throughout the novel. As Gogol moves out of his awkward teenage stages, he grows into a young man living in the halls of Yale university. A major cultural occurrence/change that happens is Gogol changing his name legally from "Gogol" to "Nikhil." Although a simple name change may not seem truly significant, but in Gogol's case, it is very much so. After many years, feeling as though he has been suffering with his birth-given name, he decides to have it taken care of. At first his parents are somewhat shocked at the fact that he wants to change his name, but at the same time they feel that it is his own decision to make. Their equanimity on the situation is not a likely response from a family where tradition is taken very seriously. This further proves their acceptance and ease into American culture. As the novel continued, the obvious cultural differences faded and became more obvious that they began to adapt to American culture, quite a lot. Other examples of differences in culture are when the Ganguli's went back to Calcutta for the umpteenth time. While they were there Gogol felt very out of place there, and did not like it at all. In Calcutta he had to share one bedroom and one dresser with his four person family. Also, he had to share a whole house with a pretty good portion of his extended family, and moved from house to house throughout the duration of the trip. Whereas in his house on Pemberton road, MA , he had a bedroom, dresser, and stayed in one place. Gogol is really becoming an all american boy, except with the background of a Bengali. 

The Namesake-Week 6 Post B

The Namesake is still keeping me pretty entertained. What I have been thinking a lot about is that in just a few pages Gogol goes from being five to ten. I don't know if I like this yet. For one it means that I am missing a lot of details of Gogol's life and what happens in between that time. On the other hand, I like that we don't have to go through all the details in his childhood so we can move on to more exciting things perhaps. So I see both a positive and negative to this writing choice. What I do for sure like though is Jhumpa Lahiri's writing style. It is quite elegant and pleasing to read, and is not frustrating to read like a few authors I know (i.e. Cormack McCarthy). The major theme that is present in this novel is finding one's place in society and in a culture. Here it is Gogol that is going through the struggle to find his own place and culture or to whether to follow Bengali traditions. So far, he has not enjoyed the Bengali scene that much, he is a very independent boy. Instead of going to Bengali language and culture classes, he would rather be at his drawing classes at the library. I wouldn't necessarily say that Gogol is trying to fight the Bengali culture, but just more that it doesn't interest him as much as his personal hobbies. I know more is to come out of this culture theme as I read on, so I will continue on with The Namesake and comment more later!

-Grace

The Namesake-Week 6 Post A

Gogol's journey as an American born Bengali continues on with many cultural changes and differences. First of all, it is very prominent now that Gogol is an American child pushing his Bengali background away. First of all, Gogol finally has his "pet" name become official, and his parents don't want to press the issue with the school so they let it slide, but that isn't all that they let slide. A major cultural change that occurs is when Ashima and Ashoke decide to let Gogol celebrate the "American Holidays." When Easter rolls around they hide the eggs around the house for Gogol to find, when christmas comes Gogol receives heaps of presents, and when the 31st of October comes Gogol dresses up and goes trick-or-treating. It does not bother the Ganguli's as much to allow this, but when Gogol comes home from a field trip at the cemetery his mother is less than pleased to see that they traced the names on the grave. She tries to explain to him that the way they bury American's is much different than how they do in Calcutta. In calcutta the bodies are wrapped in sheets and flowers and then burned, but never buried. Gogol thinks a lot about this and is curious and imagines that when he dies there will be no engraved stone recognizing his life. Despite his mother telling him not to keep those pictures of the graves, he feels a special connection and hides them behind his dresser.  Ashoke and Ashima make some cultural changes bringing them closer to American culture, not necessarily farther form their Bengali culture, but just changes in general, mostly materialistic ones. Ashoke switches from his daily suit and tie attire and buys pre-made clothes that are more casual, and also begins to use ball point pens instead of his fountain pens. Although these are simple changes, they are still changes and count towards some of their change from Bengali to American culture. 

The Namesake-week 5 Post B

With Ashima pregnant again, tensions in their household are tight. Ashima's day consists of lying in bed all day with a pink plastic trash can next to their bed, and I forgot to mention in their brand new two-story house in the suburbs, but anyways it has become Ashima's daily schedule to lie there. Ashoke and Gogol are left to fend for themselves for dinner and to go places together, and dinner seems to consist of the same meal every night, and Ashoke doesn't even cook it like Ashima does for Gogol. With Ashima's presence not there, Gogol becomes un-easy and begins to loose his appetite for his father's dinners, and having much energy. Gogol begins to lie in his bed just like his mother, and too pukes in the pink trash can. This shows how strong their relationship is and how close they are to one another, but Gogol struggles with this when he is entered into the school system.  Mentioned in my previous post, Gogol and his parents go through a name dispute. His parents, who believe it is right for him to have the "good" name Nikhil, is not working for Gogol. He does not like that he has to have a "good" name, which in a way shows that he is becoming more Americanized, but his principal also does not understand the concept of the "good" name. So the two of them decide to keep it to Gogol, but his parents aren't aware of this decision.. 

Until next time, 

grace

The Namesake-week 5 Post A

Gogol is growing up fast in the novel, but despite his upbringing in America, he still has the characteristics of a Bengali. When Gogol is entered into the school system, his parents insist that he has a "good" name as they call it. By good name, they mean a name that people can call him in the world outside of home. The name decided upon is Nikhil, but Gogol is not fond of his new name. When they bring him in for his first day of kindergarten, they try to explain to his teacher that Nikhil is his "good" name and that is what he is to be called at school, but Gogol doesn't respond to the teacher when he is called this. He doesn't fell like himself and he likes being called Gogol for it reminds him of his parents. When Ashima and Ashoke leave, the principal and Gogol secretly decide to keep his name as Gogol, not knowing the cultural importance of the "good" name. This is where you can tell that Bengal tradition is much different than that of Americans, because even after en explanation, the American teacher did not understand the importance of Gogol having another name. 

The Namesake-Week 4 Post B

Continuing on with "The Namesake," I find myself becoming more and more interested. Like I have noted almost every single blog. Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is so eloquent and beautiful. I feel like I am experiencing everything she is right along her side. I feel both sad and happy for Ashima now. First, I feel sad for her because she is so homesick and her grandmother is dying and all she wants is for her family to see Gogol and watch him grow with her. On the contrary, I am happy for her too because of various reasons. First of all, Ashima seems to be becoming more and more comfortable with Cambridge, and she is getting around the town and not staying inside all day. Second, Ashima and Ashoke have been meeting other Indian couples in the neighborhood and have become good acquaintances with them, at least good enough to have them serve as the honorary family for Gogol's ceremony. Thirdly, Ashima and the family are headed over back to India for winter break to see their families. And Lastly, I finally find that Ashoke cares for his wife, and worries about her quite frequently. He has really stepped up to the plate since last section. I am very proud of him. 

Can't wait to continue.

-grace

The Namesake-Week 4 Post A

The cultural experience the reader gets from "The Namesake" continues to grow. The first months after Ashima and Ashoke bring their baby boy, Gogol, home the culture just begins to bloom in front of your very eyes. Gogol, being a newborn baby, comes with a lot of Bengali traditions. At the time when Gogol is able to eat solid foods, a ceremony is held to celebrate his first meal, and the many to come. This ritual would be the equivalent to a baptism, except that it is viewed as coming into the life of God. In the ritual Gogol is put in to  ceremonious garb and is covered in coal and a hat that his mother made for him from tin foil and paper. Then, a plate of many traditional foods are placed in front of the baby where he eats his first grain of rice. Second, they place dirt, a pen, and money in front of him, in hopes that he will choose one. Each object symbolizes and tells the future of the young baby. If he grabs the money he will be a wealthy man, if he grabs the pen he will be a businessman, and if he reaches for the dirt, he is destined to be a farmer. The reader also witnesses cultural changes, but the other way around. Ashima, left alone with her new born child and nothing to do begins to find errands to run to occupy her time. Many of the things that she would normally be able to find in India aren't in America, so she finds substitutes for many cooking items. She also even begins to feel more connected with Cambridge when she leaves her shopping bags on the train, and by the next day were returned to her. She felt that this gave her more of a connection to where she is now.