Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Namesake
"The Namesake" by Jumpa Lahiri was by far my favorite text that we have read for the class. The novel is about an Indian couple Ashoke and Ashima leaving their native country of India to come to America for a better life full of opportunities. The couple has two children, Gogol and Sonia. Gogol is the first born, a son who his father decides to name after an author of a book he was reading the night of a train accident that changed his life forever and kept him alive. Throughout his life Gogol has a hard time dealing with his name even when he decides to go by his "good name" as Nikil. Gogol first loses his public name in grade school because he prefers to be called Gogol, but throughout the years of kids teasing him and people asking him what his name means he decides to go by his good name, Nikil and legally changes it. I don't think he ever really lost his pet name even at the end of the story when his mother decided to leave for India and he realized none of his relatives would be around to call him Gogol. I think in his heart he always knew he would be Gogol. In relation to this story we also read a short story called "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. This story ties in with "The Namesake" because it is the story that Gogol's father was reading the night of his train accident. If it wasn't for the fact that his father had been reading, he would've probably been asleep and lost his life. "The Overcoat" also ties in with this story because both stories deal with the meaning behind a name. I think a name is like an overcoat because we all have one, our name is specific to us, it defines who we are and there is a story behind every name. Everyone may have an overcoat but how each person wears it is different. Not all overcoats are the same; some are styled differently and made out of different materials. Names are similar in the fact that not everyone has the same name and people who do have the same names are derived or inherited differently. “We all came out of Gogol’s overcoat” (Lahiri 78). I think this means that by our names, we all have a story to tell, something that makes every individual unique.
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This is my favorite text too! I agree with you that Gogol never really loses his pet name. Even as readers, we only refer to him as Gogol. I think he only changed his name out of immaturity, which is why being called Gogol doesn't bother him later in life. Until reading this book, I never realized how important a name can be in determining our identities.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very interesting that you think that by " We all came out of Gogol's overcoat" Ashoke meant the uniqueness of every name and individual. To e honest when he said that I thought it was kind of trivial but didn't make much of it. In a sense I agree with you, he might have meant that our name transcends the idea of a couple of letters in our ID, or papers but instead it becomes part of who we are and plays a role in our individuality.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this text as well. I felt that throughout the whole story Gogol was trying to run away from everything he had been brought up with. His name, his parents, his indian culture. When towards the end of the story he finds out that really he wants his culture to be a part of his life as well as his family. However, he doesn't realize this though until his father's death when it is too late to keep in touch with him. I can relate this a bit to the way you might feel about a coat that your mom picks out for you and you don't like but then pull it out of the closet years later and realize that actually it is very pretty. Sometimes it takes maturity to know what we really want in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI found this text very interesting. I really liked it as well. It was easy to follow and i loved how everything ment something to them like Gogol's name.
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