Namesake discussion
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Nusrath
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Apr 15, 2014 08:50AM
In the book, Gogol's name always comes up and how and why he was named that, so my question is how does our name have an affect on our identity?
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The Namesake is about a family culturally assimilating into American society, do you think it is possible to culturally assimilate without losing your culture entirely? Why or Why not?
It is possible because in the book Ashima and Ashoke try to incorporate both of the cultures in the life they are living. They celebrate Christmas every year with a decorated tree and they also celebrate Thanksgiving. Ashima and Ashoke both have Indian food along with their children. At one point of the book Ashima and Ashoke sent Gogol to Bengali class. I can relate to this because my parents want to have the American culture, but still follow our culture without having to lose it.Therefore, I think it is possible to culturally assimilate without losing the our culture.
Nusrath wrote: "In the book, Gogol's name always comes up and how and why he was named that, so my question is how does our name have an affect on our identity?"The name that we are born with have an affect on our identity everyday. It is what people address us with. We are subjected to a word that we are called by for the rest of our lifes.(unless you change your name legally)I believe that being called something over and over, day after day -- when we know what it means - really does tend to have an effect on us. If you don't know what your name means, or it means something you can't really relate to, then I think it would have much less influence. I think a change of name would have an effect only if you attach a meaning to it. Last names can definitely do that -- one reason women often change back to their maiden names after a divorce.
Gogol tries his best to assimilate into the American culture. Is the reason why he assimilated because he is the first American generation and he feels ashamed about the culture he comes from? Does he feel obligated to shift into the culture because he is nationally American? Why or why not?
Nusrath asked, "In the book, Gogol's name always comes up and how and why he was named that, so my question is how does our name have an affect on our identity?"Our name has a great affect on our identity. It is something we carry along with us until we die. You get used be called a certain name that you are forced to adapt to it. Even though you may not like that name, you can't really change it until you're legal to change it. It sort of shapes you and you just have to go along with it. We were born with a certain name and we just shape around it as time goes on. It's not our choice when we're born, so I feel we're just given a certain identity and have to deal with it, even if someone changes there name.
In my opinion, the author describes the life of Bengali's in a negative way. Not quite sure how I feel about that. Gogol was trying to keep a distance between him and his Bengali parents. He felt shame about his name which was a pet name but became his "good" name. He felt shame when he discovered that Americans rather talked to him, even though he was young, but not his father who spoke with a Bengali accent. He felt shame when he compared the party of Americans, comfortable, easy, and self-serving, to his Indian style party, cooking a lot, many people, and a host-guest relationship.This describes the struggle of the second generations of immigrants. Same thing happened to Gogol's wife, Moushumi, who tried so hard to escape and became any other kind of person, but not Indian. Is there a way for people to avoid a generation gap of this magnitude?
@zakiamomo I don't think that the book is trying to show the life of Bengalis in a bad way. The book focuses less on the Bengali tradition and more with assimilating into a new culture while still trying to hold on to cultural customs.The focus of the book in my opinion is the struggle with moving to a new country and not knowing how to fit in and raise your children without family.
@arooj That may be the focus of the book, but a reader should go deeper and discern what the author is trying to suggest is the bigger issue at play. Throughout chapter 6, Gogol is going against the norm of bengali tradition as he decides not to get an arranged marriage and gets a serious girlfriend. The day he introduced to her to his parents was a dreadful one, "It is a meal he knows it has taken his mother over a day to prepare, and yet the amount of effort embarrasses him. (Lahiri, 148)" He does not have an ounce of cultural custom as seen throughout this chapter, and he feels ashamed through most of it.
As Gogol grows up, he looses respect and confidence in his parents. Gogol sees his parents as traditional and they don't give a second thought to being open minded like other American parents Gogol comes across. This brings me to my question, How does growing up in a religion or culture limited to your household affect the way you will later view the world?
@nusrathYes, our name does have a huge affect on our identity. We are born into the world with our name as an armor and to help guide us as we grow. Sometimes we want to alter or change our names to help us have a smoother life and that's okay. But the name given to us at birth is something that isn't just embedded on our birth certificate or school papers, but our soul. It is our first call into the world and as difficult or "weird" our names might be, I feel as if we should embrace that name because it connected to a deeper meaning from your parent/guardian and we should respect that since our name is our first gift when we come into this world. Sometimes all it takes is a name to rouse fear, love, hate or other feelings in other people and so names play a huge role in our identity.
