"The Namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri was published in September of 2003. It is a book about identity, names, culture and the search for who you truly are. It follows Gogol (later Nikhil) Ganguli and his life and relationships with those around him and with himself. Jhumpa Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967 in London. She has written many books like "Interpreter of Maladies" (1999) and "The Namesake" (2003.) She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000 for her novel “Interpreter of Maladies.” Her book “The Namesake” also got a movie adaptation in 2006. Additionally in 2014 she won the National Humanities Medal for her work in showing Indian-American experiences.

In the beginning of the book we learn a few key things. Gogol was born in a hospital in the USA, far from his parents homeland of India. We learn of his parent’s arranged marriage and of the accident that nearly ended his fathers life. A letter containing the name meant for Ashoke and Ashima’s son was lost in the mail and Ashima’s grandmother became ill and was unable to remember the name. Forced by the hospital to name their son, they chose to name him after the man whose work had saved Ashoke’s life, Gogol. Gogol was only meant to be Gogol to his parents and close family and he was given the name Nikhil to be known by others. However, he would only allow himself to be called Gogol. The principal of his school put that name on the forms which solidifies Gogol as his name. The middle of the book sees a few major things happen. We see Gogol struggling to find his identity and we see him change his name. We additionally see some of Gogol's major relationships. Gogol hates his name for most of his later life and before college he chooses to change his name to Nikhil to get a new start and to be a new person in his life. He rejects his parents name and changes it to a new one which symbolizes how he is trying to recreate himself. He has three major relationships. The first is with Ruth, a woman he meets on a train when he is in college, they date for a few years before breaking up. The second is Maxine, a woman he meets at a party with his coworkers  and he instantly falls in love with her. He moves in with his parents and becomes a part of their world while leaving his behind. His relationship ends after the death of his father, a major part of Gogol’s life which brings him closer to his family. His last relationship is with Moushumi, a Bengali woman who his parents approve of. They fall in love and quickly get married. Near the end of the book we learn that Moushumi is having an affair with a man named Dimitri which Gogol later discovers. They soon get a divorce and Gogol is back to being alone. Ashima is selling their childhood home and moving to live in India for half the year and the USA for the other half and so they throw a final party with their Bengali friends to celebrate their leaving. Gogol goes upstairs and finds the book of old Gogol stories that his father gave to him for his birthday decades ago, he sits and reads it and the book helps him to understand his name. The book doesn’t have an ending that wraps it up, rather it has an ending that leaves the rest of the story open to interpretation. It ends with Gogol having a better understanding of himself and his name and it shows some of the themes of identity and change.

The main conflict of “The Namesake” is Gogol's struggle to find out who he truly is. In the beginning of the book it is introduced as him not liking his name from a pretty early age. He changes his name and struggles to find out if he is more Nikhil or Gogol. This is the beginning of his struggle to find out who he is as he changes his name because he doesn’t like who he is but it's always a part of him. Over the course of the book we see the conflict play out through Gogol’s relationships and his new life. He tries to redefine himself and become a new person, Nikhil, as opposed to Gogol. He has his first kiss and his two loves with Ruth and Maxine as Nikhil. When he is with Maxine he truly tries to leave his old world behind when he is living at her home both in NYC and upstate. He is not very conflicted as he wants to leave his parents behind and build a wall between them and his new life, he even goes so far as to leave them no way to contact him while he is at Maxine's upstate home. However the death of his father sends these walls crashing down. Now Gogol must try to choose between spending time and helping his family, or being with Maxine. He must choose between being Gogol and Nikhil. In the end Gogol wins over as Maxine breaks up with him because of how much time he is spending with his family and for a while Nikhil is left behind. With Moushumi he is known to her both as Gogol and Nikhil but she calls him Nikhil due to his wishes. However, most of the people at his wedding know him as Gogol and he must once again struggle to find out which one he is. In the end he chooses to be Gogol, not Nikhil. He makes this choice as he spends more time with his family after his divorce and eventually finds the book that his father gave to him on his birthday many years ago. Upon finding the book he comes to realize more strongly that the name Gogol not only stands for his life, but for his fathers’s and everything that led him to be who he is.

In the beginning of the book Gogol is seen as a young child, they think of him as Gogol rather than Nikhil. This is both due to the fact that he has not changed his name yet and that when he does, they still think of him as Gogol as that is how they have known him. He is a quiet kid who loves art, he is more American than Bengali but less so than his sister. He was sometimes teased by other kids about his name in the beginning of the book and this, among other reasons, led to him not liking his name and his identity and wanting to change it. As the book goes on he becomes more uncomfortable with his identity and he later changes his name to Nikhil as a way to reinvent himself at college. He disassociates with his old identity and becomes a new person at college, he becomes Nikhil instead of Gogol. He becomes more American and more of a “normal” person to try and fit in with those around him. He falls in love 3 times as Nikhil. Once with Ruth, once with Maxine, and once with Moushumi. When he is with Maxine he distances himself even more from his family, he becomes more of a part of her world and when he goes to New Hampshire with her, he leaves no way for his family to contact him which shows how much he is trying to distance himself from his family and culture. It is inevitably the death of his father that causes the biggest change in Gogol. It draws him back to his family and it makes him embrace his culture more, removing some of the distance he tried so hard to create. Gogol not only closes this distance but comes even closer and spends much more time with his family which represents how much more mature he is. This feeling is both compounded and reduced when he falls in love with Moushumi, a Bengali woman who his family approves of. They have a traditional Bengali wedding which draws him even closer to his family and culture. However, Moushumi soon tires of the traditional “boring” aspect of their marriage and they later get a divorce. The outcome is that Gogol goes back to his family and in the end of the book he finds a book of old Gogol stories that his father had gifted to him many years ago. It helps him to understand himself and his name better and leads to him finally accepting himself and his name and identity.

Some things that I liked about this book are its themes and the way the author writes the book. I liked how each of Gogol's relationships had crossed paths with him before they were together, which I like because it reminds me of how I met some of my friends, months, weeks, or even years before we actually became friends. I also liked seeing the way Gogol changed as a character and how he became more comfortable with his identity. Additionally I liked the many ways that everything came full circle near the end of the book and the many hidden callbacks to the beginning. I recommend that you buy this book if you like cultural stories with complex characters who have compelling backstories and lives. Additionally if you like love stories then this would be a good book for you. If you have ever felt conflicted about your identity or who you truly are then “The Namesake” is a great book for you. Gogol’s reflects his family history and can help readers to think about where they came from