The Namesake Part 1
I have recently started reading,The Namesake, an eye opening novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is about the hardships and struggles of an Indian couple as they adapt to their new american lifestyles after moving away from home. The young couple go through very many transitions after moving to Boston, some of these transitions being big or small such as; the difference in food, the lack of culture they see around them and the fact that they do not have their families with them directly to fall back on. The first in depth struggle we see them face is naming their first child. They rely on their traditions for the naming but soon have to decide on a name themselves, something they are not accustomed to. That's a short summary of the beginning few chapters of the novel.
The first character I found myself able to connect to is Ashima. Ashima mentions very often throughout the novel that it upsets her to see the lack of tradition and depth within american culture, though I am not very cultural, I am religious and I can also relate to the lack of depth that Ashima sees within the world. If you know me well, you will know that I am a very deep thinker, sometimes without even trying. I try to see more, I try to dig deeper, I try to relate and connect with every situation I am put in. Something I find that Ashima struggles with. She looks around and is unable to see anything beneath american culture. For example when Goggle goes to the cemetery with his school, she expresses her anger that in the american school system, that they allow the children to disrespect the dead by going on a field trip to a cemetery, "What type of field trip was this? It is enough that they applied lipstick to their corpses and buried them in silk-lined boxes. Only in America" (Page 70), but even more so, she is upset about the fact that bodies are buried instead of burned like how she is used to. Another connection I was able to make was with Ashoke. We are informed of a very traumatic accident Ashoke was in, when the train he was in derailed and he nearly died. We see the way Ashoke struggles with this, flashbacks and haunting memories. I was able to connect with the way Ashoke felt, maybe not to the same level of severity, but I can recognize and remember the feeling of dealing with a situation that leaves a large impact on your everyday life. Later, Ashoke is able to realize that since Goggle has been born that he does not feel the trauma as often anymore. This is a very important part of the book because we see development in Ashoke's character.
This book may be slow paced at the beginning, but I think that this is important to help develop characters, in order for the reader to make a personal connection in some way. If the novel had a faster pace at the beginning, I do not think I would be as interested in the outcome of the story because I would not feel a personal connection with any of the characters. As we see Gogol get older, we see him struggle with his culture. He feels the pressure to try and fit in with his classmates, something he thinks makes him stand out is his name. A major theme in the Namesake is dealing with two conflicting cultures, we first see this, through the eyes of Ashima but later through Gogol. Gogol’s inner conflict with his name is a prime example of this. He is caught in the middle of trying to fit in with the american children but also trying to follow his parents traditions. We see him struggle with this until he eventually comes to terms with his unique name. I found that while reading this it was interesting to see how Gogol’s name somewhat helps Ashoke cope with the events of his past, but also how Gogol thinks that his name has no meaning behind it, but it actually has a more important meaning than most other names that Gogol hears in his life. In a strange way, certain aspects of the show remind me of the television show, "The Mindy Project". Specifically Gogol, because a recurring theme in the show is about the lead character Mindy, having to deal with the struggle of trying to fit in with american civilization but also trying to please her Indian parents and follow Indian tradition, like Gogol, she deals with two conflicting cultures. Overall I enjoyed the first part of this book. I found that although it was slow paced, I was able to understand the important theme of culture vs culture, and also connect with the characters to make the novel more enjoyable for me to read.
Were there any characters that you felt were easier to connect with than others? How do you think you would deal with such a large culture shock?