Comparative Analysis of Two Characters in The Namesake
This paper is all about a comparison between two characters of the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake. We are going to compare how the author paints these characters with other characters in the novel. Gogol Nikhil, who is the main character, and his mother, Ashami are the center of this analysis. The choice of Gogol and Ashami is founded on contrasting thematic struggles inevitably depicted by the narrator.
Gogol Nikhil is preoccupied with his new modern life that surpasses the Bengalese culture of his parents. At first, he was comfortable with his name but immediately he received negative sentiments he felt uncomfortable. He persuades his father to give him a new public name. In as much as his name meant a lot to his father, it did not matter to Gogol. When he is taken by his parents to India it is expected he would adapt immediately but, “He stares at the commuters clinging precariously to trams and buses” (Lahiri 282). This shows alienation from his ancestral land. Contrary, Ashami is struggling to connect with the people and her culture. This is evident when she creates a group of his native and Bengali-speaking friends. The author depicts her closed nature, she wears Indian clothes and refuses to learn to drive.
Gogol is painted as a person willing to reconcile with the events as they come through very tough circumstances. This eminent character is evident in the novel when the author takes us through the moment of decision that forced Gogol to move out of Maxine’s life for good after the death of his father (Lahiri 188).On the other hand, a preserve their identity, Ashami struggle to keep cultural practices. She is not featured as a dominant character but her role in the text is huge. From the onset of their move to the foreign land, she fights to preserve their original identity. In the first chapter, the author introduces Ashami as trying to conjure an Indian meal from a mixture of American ingredients. This shows Ashami’s acts of craving for her culture in Cambridge. This instance gives an insight into the inability to belong to an alien culture which her husband has associated her with. Their consistency in seeking out their families and restricting their association with the alien culture. It is convincing evidence that she was against alienation despite the open opportunity that she was entitled to in the new environment.
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Belonging largely preoccupies the entire text with a contrast between Ashami and her first-born son. Gogol was born in American land far away from his Bengalese background. The birth of Gogol opens up the beginning of isolation from the realities of his background. In a bid to safeguard and protect tradition, she protests the Hospital compiler’s suggestion that they name their son. She says, “But sir, we can’t possibly name him by ourselves” (Lahiri 27). Ashami never intended to raise her son in a foreign land “I am saying hurry up and finish your degree. I am saying I do not want to raise Gogol alone in this country. It is not right. I want to go back” (Lahiri 33). This repeated insistence by Ashami showed that she wanted to go back to her native country and raise her only child peacefully. According to her, a foreign land was not able to offer the best grooming to her son who needs to adapt to the culture of her home country well. Cultural autonomy between the alien American traditions perceived to be unfit, and the homeland culture is created by the author.
The initial stage of courtship between Gogol and Moushumi is even-handed: both of them demonstrate insecure and flawed characters. In this relationship, Gogol expects her to accomplish certain desires because she would be required to make submissions to him. To Gogol, his insecurity began to emerge a long time ago ing his childhood, and he shuns using her name in their marriage based on chauvinistic reasons. The author provides the unity of their characters, as she hides her other name. The author depicts Nikhil as a character who is moving towards autonomy and independence depicting this character using neo-orientalist paradigms. The marriage arrangements between Gogol and his Bengali-woman present the reassurance of coming to terms and reconciling them with their lost identities.
In conclusion, the two characters, Gogol and Ashami, demonstrate the cultural tension and the struggle for retention and search for identity. Although conflicting, their role in the text remains imperative in examining ideological friction and the quest for identity. The similarity between the two characters lies in the fact that both of them depict the major theme raised by the author. The author depicts Gogol as an accomplice of alienation through the second generation. He fights to turn around the prevailing conservative traditions when he is born in a completely different environment perceived to be un-bearing by his predecessors. On the contrary, his mother, Ashami, perfectly positions herself as a figure to cushion against this emerging cultural protest staged by the birth of the second generation.
Works Cited
- Lahiri, Jhumpa. The namesake: A novel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.
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