World Literature

Carroll
Namesake, Discussion

1. Names are very important in this story. How are Bengali attitudes and traditions about
naming different from US attitudes and traditions? Provide concrete examples.

2. How does Gogol feel about his name? Why does he change his name, and why does
he change it to Nikhil? (Provide evidence.) What does that change say about personal
identity?

3. Let’s talk class. What is the Ganguli family’s class status in India? In the US? How
do you know? (Provide evidence.)
4. Provide three examples of the “Americanization” of Gogol and his family.

5. Compare Maxine’s treatment of Gogol’s old name (156) with Moushumi’s (243-244).
Which is worse, from your point of view? From Lahiri’s?

6. Why do Gogol and Maxine break up? (Check out those sections of the text, from at
least 182 onward.) What is Lahiri saying about family here?

7. What is the significance of the relationship – marriage and divorce – with Moushumi?
What is her attraction for him? Why doesn’t it work?