The Namesake Worksheet 1:

1. In what ways does The Namesake challenge or reinvent the traditions

of the bildungsroman?

2. Which themes does The Namesake address? In what ways?

3. United States and India seem to be constantly juxtaposed in the

novel: which aspects of the two countries are used for this contrast?

Who does the comparing? Finally, what is the purpose of this

technique, how are the readers supposed to react?

4. In the first six chapters, we see Ashima, Ashoke, and Gogol develop

various (types of) relationships: discuss how these relationships

shape the characters, their development, the relationship among

themselves. Provide examples.

5. Books and literature also play a significant role in the novel: find and

discuss examples of how literature is used and for what purpose.

6. The name is a recurring issue for Gogol: his (in)security, sense of

belonging, and overall identity. How do you understand his struggles

with it and also the fact that he decides to change it?

7. What do you make of the narrator and their voice? How would you

define it?