Shemesh1

DanielShemesh
Mrs.AmyElliott
SophomoreEnglish
31August2015
ATitlesPlot
TheNamesake
byJhumpaLahiriisacomplexbookaboutthelifeofGogolGanguliand
histransitiontoAmericansociety.Namesakeisroughlytranslatedasapersonthathasthesame
nameasanotherperson,andthishasmanysignificanteffectsinthebook.Evenjustthemotifof
namesishugeinthesmallnovel,andsomeofthedetailsareverycomplexandconfusing.
The
Namesake
asatitleweavesitswayintotheplotofGogolslifethroughhisBengaliculture,the
endofthenovel,andtheprogressionofhislife.
Firstofall,Gogolscultureisintegratedintothetitle.Whileprogressingthroughthe
book,readersbegintothinkofanameasapersonalterm,insteadofaliteralterm.Duringhis
life,Gogolistriestofigureoutwhohereallyisintermsofhiscultureandhisname.Atthe
beginningofthebook,GogolisashyandverytraditionalBengaliboy.Goingthroughhigh
schoolandeventuallycollege,heisimmersedinAmericantraditionsandlearnstoadoptthem.
Aftercollege,Gogolmeetsacoupleofgirls,andeventuallymeetsMoushumi,whohemarries.
Fromthispointon,itisasifheistryingtofindoutwhatheisnamedafter.Theirweddingis
describedashavingclosetothreehundredpeopleandservingIndianfood(Lahiri219),which
reflectsthetroublesbetweenBengalicultureandAmericanculture.Thissetsthescenefor
Gogolstroubleinfindingwhohereallyis.
Secondly,theendofthenovelissignificanttothetitle.Asheisfindinghimselfandhis
name,Gogolhasalotoftroubles.Itisalmostasifheisadifferentpersonwhenhechangeshis

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name.WhenGogolisatcollege,thenarratorstatesthatitisasNikhilthatheloseshisvirginity
ataparty(Lahiri105).ThisisunusualbecauseheisalwayscalledGogolthroughoutthebook,
andhasneverbeencalledNikhil.Then,towardstheendofthebook,everythingchangeswhen
Gogolstartstoread(Lahiri291)booksbytheauthorhewasnamedafter,andtheauthorhis
fatherusedtolove.Thisiswhereitclickstoreadersthatnotonlydoeshisnamereallyrelateto
whoithenamedafter,butalsotohisdadandhismaturity.
Finally,theprogressionofGogolslifeisveryimportanttothetitleofthisnovel.Itis
statedmanytimesthroughoutthebookthathisfatherwasanavidreaderofRussianliterature,
andthathewasreadingabookbyNikolaiGogolduringthetimeofhistrainaccident.This
happening,alongwiththetroublesnamingGogol,forcedhisparentstonameGogolwhatheis
named.Thisautomaticallygavehimtheresponsibilitytoliveuptohisdadsexpectationsbased
ontheauthor.Whenhegrewupandchangedhisname,hislifewentdownhill.
TheNamesakes
titlerelatestoGogolslifebecauseofhisculture,thenovelplot,andhis
lifegrowingup.JhumpaLahiriwrote
TheNamesake
inaverycomplexwebofcharacters,
breakupsandverydramaticscenes.Allofthecharactersinthenovelhadupsanddowns,and
Gogolexceededalloftheexpectationssetforhim.Gogolsnamehelpedweavetheplotintoits
placeandaidinthemasterpieceof
TheNamesake.

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Bibliography

Lahiri,Jhumpa.
TheNamesake
.Boston:HoughtonMifflin,2003.Print.