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Experiences that shape identity
Generation differences essay
Personal experiences and identity
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Relationships between friends and family helps a person shape their identity to who they want to become. Different generations all have different knowledge and their interactions with each other help shape who they become as an individual. The relationships between the different generations show the quest Ashima and Gogol went onto finding their identity, in America. In the novel, The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri shows the interactions between generations and how they affect each other. Ashima spent her whole life as a child surrounded by her family, by sleeping in the same room as her parents, then sharing the same bed with Ashoke. First as her parents’ daughter, and then as Ashoke’s wife, and later as Gogol and Sonia’s mother. She had …show more content…
She tries to re-create familiarity with re-creating a traditional dish that she used to get at a train station in India by combining “…Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts and chopped red onion in a bowl,” (Lahiri 1). She tried to re-create a traditional dish with the unfamiliar ingredients she could not find in America. This was her initial start in trying to find herself in a place where she can no longer associate herself with anything. After Gogol was born her first instance of finding herself was her associating herself with Gogol, she left the house and explored the area she was in, stepping out of her comfort zone. By the time Gogol was in grade three, they were put in “Bengali language and culture lessons every other Saturday” (65), at this point Ashima still could not identify herself without associating herself with her parents back home and her kids. Her culture is still a part of her and she wanted to make sure the culture she grew up with gets passed on to her kids. When Gogol was coming back during a weekend visit, he called his dorm his home and Ashima was shocked. It had been twenty years on Pemberton Road and Ashima still cannot call it home, as easily as Gogol called his dorm home. This initial incident shows how connected she is to her
...o assimilate into the society by entering school with a more acceptable name, but Gogol refuses. The acceptance of the society has pressured him to change his name in college, and to hide Gogol from the society. Till the day Gogol understands the reason why his father chose to name him Gogol instead of an Indian or American name, Gogol experienced a lot of changes, as a second generation American immigrant. Gogol has been assimilated to different culture than he ethnically is. At the end, through family, Gogol has come back to his roots. Gogol was not given an Indian name from his Indian family or an American name as he was born in America, to emphasize an individual try to assimilate into a different culture, but in the end, he is still bonded to his roots as the person he ethnically is.
Gogol basically grows up his whole life not feeling comfortable with his identity and who he is. Gogol doesn't feel like he belongs in his parents Bengali family, and he somewhat feels like he is living in between cultures sometimes. Growing up in America has made him feel like an outsider because his parents were always doing things in their culture. Throughout the book Gogol makes great efforts to find out who he really is and he does that by moving away from home. Gogol’s definition of home changes whether it's by getting a new girlfriend or moving to a new place he's not familiar with.
Another link between these three characters is their family ties. They highly regard their elders, and consider the effects of the decisions they make on t...
We see these mother-daughter relationships often in Arimah’s stories and a main focus in ”Wild.” So much of this story is about the interactions and inflictions of the two mother and daughter relationships shown in this story, that of Ada and her mom and then that of Chinyere and her mom, Ugo. Arimah likes to mix things up and give us an un-rosy picture of the mother-daughter relationships by having the two not see eye to eye. Auntie Ugo’s frustration with Chinyere really shows through as we hear her conversation with Ada, “‘You know, we did everything for that girl, everything. The best schools, the best everything.’” (Arimah
Gogol is not completely cut off from his roots and identity. He tries to reject his past, but it makes him stranger to himself. He fears to be discovered. With the rejection of Gogol’s name, Lahiri rejects the immigrant identity maintained by his parents. But this outward change fails to give him inner satisfaction.
I am the child of a white man and a Navajo (Diné) woman. Gogol’s parents have tried to force their cultural values upon him since birth, but I would have been lucky if my family had tried to celebrate my A 'wee Chi 'deedloh, my first laugh ceremony. Gogol lives in a world where his family seems to have to do everything possible to scrape together the means to practice their Bengali culture. This suggests that to be the child of first-generation immigrants is to substitute many traditions and ceremonies into more Americanized, less culturally-authentic renditions of themselves, for the only way to be truly authentic is to practice the culture in the land of origin or, in Gogol’s case, India.
... age of Gene Forrester. Because Finny causes Gene to grow up, we are able to realize that one must grow up to move on in life. In that process of growing up, several people impact your life. This novel shows us how our identity is basically created by those who are present in our lives; however we must not measure our abilities against another person (Overview: A Separate Peace 2). We are shown how the impact of one person can make a great difference. The goodness in people is what one should always take away from a relationship. This is shown in the relationship between Gene and Finny. The experiences Finny gives Gene cause him to grow up and become a better person because of them.
Ashima’s name means limitless, life without borders, and she finally finds her way back home to where she had left her life off, finally following her passion of singing, where she feels most happy and free. Gogol follow’s directly in his father’s footsteps, getting on a train, and traveling as he once did. Gogol reads from the book, that perhaps “it is not a new overcoat, but an old one,” tying together the idea that modern culture is only built upon tradition. This is where Gogol is at peace, reading the words that sparked his creation, a place to finally
Gogol is stuck in two worlds. It was hard for him to find out who he was. After Gogol’s father dies, he falls into a depressed state of mind. It brings back haunted memories of being bullied in elementary school. For this reason, Gogol’s is not accustomed to communicating with anyone and chooses not to, because he does not know
As a child, Gogol was always dragged back to India to visit his grandparents and other family for a couple of months every year. This, while exposing Gogol to Bengali tradition in India, does not help with bringing him closer to his parents, who grew up in a substantially different way than him. Lahiri shows Gogol’s parent’s transition of moving to another country effectively by focusing on specific things in America that are different from India, like food brands. “Almost all the characters have been given something of Lahiri's own sensitivity to the surfaces of things--the poetry of brand names, for instance, as they strike a person who is beginning to know English well: "Skippy, Hood, Bumble Bee, Land O'Lakes"; or the attractiveness to a bookish girl of "the Modern Library emblem, the dashing, naked, torch-bearing figure,” (Bromwich). Because Gogol is a first generation American, many conflicts arise within his family since his parents cannot fully understand what it is like to grow up in America.
Sometimes religion can be a necessity for comfort. Over time, we may already possess our very own identities and then develop different ones after a tragedy. In order to easily move on from a plight, some sort of comfort or security is needed, whether its time, family, friends, a sport, or religion. In the novel, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, one can clearly see the viewpoint of how Gogol’s life over time has evolved from American to Bengali. With the comfort of his Bengali life he’s able to push through the tragedy of his father’s death. However, apart from when Gogol needs his family and culture for comfort, he is simply a true American.
At an early age, Aaliya is married off to an older man. But he's useless, stupid, and impotent, and their marriage is never consummated. After he mercifully divorces her. Aaliya is left with their spacious apartment, much to the chagrin of her own family, who thinks she should hand it over to one of her child-rearing siblings. She refuses, and her family hates her for it.
In the novel, The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri deals with a Bengali couple and their children who resides in America. The Bengali family had a different intake and view of America. The novel presents variety of transitions that is common in our society today. One of the major themes in the novel is the identity confusion Gogol has between his family’s Indian heritage and a modern American lifestyle and is mostly centered around Gogol. ADD MORE & INTRODUCE THE BODY PARAGRAPHS.
The question of identity is always a difficult one for those immersed in one culture, yet belonging to another. This concept of identity frequently lingers in the minds of immigrants, especially the second generations who were born elsewhere than their parent’s homeland. Throughout The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol Ganguli struggles between his two identities of being both Bengali-Indian and American. He attempts to escape the confinement of societal standards and pursue the American identity by redefining himself. In addition, each character is challenged by their surroundings and ability to adapt to change.
Ashima and Ashoke’s kid was born and they were nevervous to know if he was healthy or not, both Ashima and Ashoke checked to see if their first child was completely normal with all body parts which he was. Ashoka beliefs and scared when he holds the baby he's not going to be careful enough to hold him. Three family friends came to the child's birth,Maya and Dilip Nandi and also Dr. Gupta came to visit the baby boy in the hospital. Dr. Gupta gives him his first book as a gift. Ashima thinks back to her and Ashoke’s families in India he hasn't seen or meet his grandparents and vise versa he's only met the family they made in America. Ashima and Ashoke send a telegram to Calcutta, they let the extended family know that the baby boy was born