The Namesake

Relationships have meaning to people and can possibly have an impact in their life as well. Some you can learn from and some just happen for a reason. In this story "The
Namesake" by Lahiri, Gogul the main character had three girlfriends throughout the novel. The first girlfriend was Ruth, second was Maxine, and his last one was
Moushami who he ended up marrying as well. All these relationships Gogul was in, meant something to him and all ended off unsuccessful. All these girls were right for him at the time for various reasons which is why he chose them. Firstly, Gogul was rebelling his culture when he was with Ruth and Maxine. At the time he did not understand how much he has changed, but he did realize after. For example, "His

"A girl is seated next to the window reading a folded-back issue of The New Yorker" (Lahiri 109)." He approaches Ruth by asking if the coat left behind is hers. He notices her because of a familiar face that he obviously found attractive in a crowd which why he approached her. In this relationship with Ruth, he was happy and still young, His parents let him know the circumstances beforehand but he did nothing but not acknowledge a word they had said and their opinion. This relationship between Gogul and Ruth was an experience of him evolving and understanding the nature of relationships. His second relationship with Maxine was quite life changing for Gogul. It was slightly similar to Ruth because she was also an American along with Maxine, that happens to be American as well. Gogul meets Maxine at a party. Gogul rarely attended parties while he was studying in college but he attended this party. "Beside Russell is a girl he can't stop looking at" (Lahiri 128)." He was attracted to her to the way she looks at first sight. As they get in a relationship, Gogul avoids calls from home, avoids his family trying to visit him and was very distant from everything but her, he was really attached to Maxine and her family. His last relationship was with Moushami a family friend of Gogul who he ended up marrying after he dated her for a while. His mom had arranged their meeting at first so that they can get to know one