Analysis of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

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Over the course of the novel, The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol is constantly moving, and by the time he is in his late twenties, he has already lived in five different homes, while his mother, Ashima has lived in only five houses her entire life. Each time Gogol moves, he travels farther away from his childhood home on Pemberton Road, symbolizing his search for identity and his desire to further himself from his family and Bengali culture. Alternatively, Ashima’s change of homes happens in order to become closer to family, representing her kinship with Bengali culture. Ashima has always had difficulty with doing things on her own, but by the end of the story she ultimately decides to travel around both India and the States without a real home as a result of the evolution of her independence and the breaking of her boundaries; in contrast, Gogol finally realizes that he has always stayed close to home, despite his yearning for escape, and settles into his newly discovered identity - the one that he possessed all along. Throughout the novel, Ashima and Gogol are at opposite perspectives of their view of “home”. In the beginning, while Ashima is focused on family and prefers to remain close to her Bengali culture, Gogol’s only wish is to become independent and veer away from his Bengali culture. These desires of independency and having a traditional close-knit family direct Ashima and Gogol’s decisions and views of home. Whereas Ashima is focused on family, Gogol continues in his attempt to become fully independent and escape from his home and the clutches of his insistent, traditional parents. After living in New Haven for a few years, Gogol decides to move to New York. His reasons for moving to New York are mainly because... ... middle of paper ... ...zation leads to Gogol’s discovery of his true identity. Although he has always felt that he had to find a new, more American and ordinary identity, he has come to terms that he will always be the Gogol that is close to his family. While Gogol is coming to this understanding, Ashima has finally broken free from relying on her family, and has become “without borders” (176). No longer the isolated, unsure Bengali she was when arriving in Cambridge, Ashima has been liberated from dependent and powerless to self empowering. The passing of her husband has forced her to go through her life as a more self-reliant person, while at the same time she is able to maintain her daily Indian customs. This break-through is the final point of Ashima’s evolution into personal freedom and independency. Works Cited Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Print.

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