The Namesake Reflection: Don't Lose Your Identity

As a son of two Indian immigrants, Gogol struggles to find his true identity as an Indian American throughout The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  As a young child, Gogol loves his name and embraces it when he starts school. As he grows older and gets ready for college, Gogol not only is absolutely disgusted with his name, but his primary goal is to discard all aspects of his Indian identity. Gogol’s name change to Nikhil in the courthouse symbolizes his complete transformation. It was as if "a prisoner was walking free" (Lahiri 102).

When Nikhil begins college at Yale, his soul focus in life is to not be the Gogol that his parents want him to be. Nikhil no longer feels as bound to his parents as Gogol once did (Out With the Old & In With the New). Without his parents around, Nikhil is able to break all of the rules of Indian tradition. "Now that he's Nikhil, it's easier to ignore his parents, to throw out their concerns and pleas" (Lahiri 105). As a completely new person, Nikhil is able to “loosen his morals without any guilt” (Out With the Old & In With the New) and act in a manner he had never been able to with the pressure of his Indian heritage. Nick, as his peers at Yale call him, grows a goatee, smokes, and goes to bars under aged.

Additionally, without the identity of Gogol, Nikhil is able to connect with women unlike his “predecessor” had ever been able to. With a boost in confidence, Nick no longer felt any shame when speaking with women. “With Ruth, Nick quickly develops a sexual relationship as he has never been able to do before” (Out With the Old & In With the New). Meanwhile, Nikhil detaches himself from his family. Where as I feel that becoming more courageous and outgoing may be beneficial to Gogol, the fact that he no longer even wants to communicate with his own parents disgusts me. Gogol is clearly trying to rebel against his own culture by resorting to a polar opposite personality. He must realize that “throwing the baby out with the bath water” is impossible. Nonetheless, Nikhil goes even farther in his relationship with Maxine. “He lives with a girl isn't married to while his own parents have never even show physical affection in his presence.”

Lahiri highlights the fact that every time Gogol is faced with crisis in his life (ex. his Indian styled upbringing, his fathers death), he rapidly transforms his personality to ensure he is behaving completely opposite to the way he had done previously. When he goes to college and works in New York City, Gogol develops a relationship with Maxine that would be completely alien to his traditional Indian parents. Later in the novel, when Ashoke dies, Gogol again transitions to an opposite personality by breaking up with Maxine, developing a stronger attachment to his mother and sister by moving in with them and finally by marring Moshumi. By the end of the novel, The Namesake, Lahiri points out that Gogol’s strategy of resorting to the polar opposite doesn’t end well when he ends up having to get a divorce with Moshumi. Gogol’s lack of balance is what leads him to his own downfall time and time again.

 In the end, I felt that Lahiri strongly encourages us not to handle times of difficulty in life by making hasty decisions and losing our own identity in the process. Instead, I personally hope to follow her lesson by making more rational decisions myself. I found The Namesake particular interesting because I, too, am an Indian American. Though there are times when I feel angry and frustrated by the traditions of my Indian heritage, I hope to deal with my issues in a more healthy and gradual manner than Gogol did.

Yet Another Change...

When Gogol changed his name, his personality became a whole lot more rebellious and free. His actions as Nikhil are no longer affected by the wishes and wants of his parents. Through his relationship with Ruth and especially Maxine, evident is the fact that Nick has a complete disregard for Bengali culture. On one hand, he has never seen his parents show physical affection while Gogol, on the other hand is living with his girlfriend in the same house as her parents and maintaining a sexual relationship.

Upon the death of his father, Ashoke, Gogol goes through another transition. His value for family boosts. He no longer shows the same affection for Maxine as he had done in the past. "It's a family thing," Gogol repeats when discussing his fathers funeral. He also moves in to his home in Cambridge and out of Maxine's. When Maxine requests Nick to proceed with the vacation they'd planned in the near future, he turns it down. I wonder if his lack of kindness to his girlfriend is due entirely to his devastation. I feel like Gogol felt guilty for dating Max even though his passed father and alive mother never really liked her.

Soon after they break up, in an attempt to appease his mother, Gogol meets with his childhood Indian "friend," Mo. When they begin to date, it becomes clear that Gogol it really taking Ashima's desires into account as he had never done before. Ashoke's death truly brings Gogol to set his priorities to family as had refused to do in the past.

Out With the Old & In With the New

As Gogol begins to lose his identity, Nikhil takes over as a whole new character. The act if changing his name in that 10 minutes in the courthouse transforms him as a person completely. It was as if "a prisoner was walking free" (Lahiri 102). From that day forward, his loyalties and morals  as Gogol are nearly lost completely. Nikhil no longer feels as bound to his parents as Gogol once did. "Now that he's Nikhil, it's easier to ignore his parents,  to true out their concerns and pleas" (Lahiri 105). As a whole new person, Nikhil is able to loosen his morals without any guilt. He grows a goatee, smokes, and goes to bars under aged. Additionally, he no longer feels shameful or embarrassed when conversing with girls. With Ruth, Nick quickly develops a sexual relationship as he has never been able to do before. The trend continues with Maxine.

I feel like Gogol's new name make him feel like he is an into rely new person. No longer does he take his parents into account when making decisions. He goes so far as to even show hatred for the way he was brought up. I think Nick is trying to rebel against his own culture by going to the polar opposite way of life. He lives with a girl isn't married to while his own parents have never even show physical affection in his presence. Nick' coming of age allows him to leave behind Bengali traditions and move on with life as he prefers to--without Gogol's parents consent. 

The Struggle

In The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, I must admit that I was disappointed by the lack of good judgement made by both Ashoke sand Ashima. Not only does Ashoke bring his newly married wife to the United States while he is still in school, but they also have a child together. Ashoke, a P.h.D. student at MIT probably has enough to worry about relating to school work. Bringing a wife while even he is not yet properly settled in my opinion is not the best idea. As I started to read through chapter 2 of The Namesake, I could see an array of issues arising. Most of them originated from the new wife missing her family. She is losing her elderly family members and "wants to go back." Her words show how naive she truly is. After having a child with a husband who is studying at one of the most difficult programs, going back to India may not be the best or easiest idea. We learn early in chapter 1 that Ashima had only come to Boston eighteen months ago, before which she had never heard of the city. Although it's easy to sympathize with her, I definitely think that having a child so early was too hasty. Ashima claims in chapter 2, "I don't want to raise a child alone in this country." Later she also says, "hurry up and finish your degree." I feel like Lahiri has given us strong evidence that a child at such an early stage has added more tension and grief to the parents' worry. Ashima also thinks it to be unfair that she must sit at home alone with the baby while Ashoke spends the day at MIT's engineering department. In Indian culture, the baby is always being cared for by not only the mother, but by the grandmother, aunts, and so on. Meanwhile, she feels lonely to have to do all this by herself. The best solution, I think,  would have been to wait to have the baby at least until Asoke was out of college.