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DanielShemesh

Mrs.AmyElliott

SophomoreEnglish

31August2015

ATitlesPlot

TheNamesakebyJhumpaLahiriisacomplexbookaboutthelifeofGogolGanguliand

histransitiontoAmericansociety.Namesakeisroughlytranslatedasapersonthathasthesame

nameasanotherperson,andthishasmanysignificanteffectsinthebook.Evenjustthemotifof

namesishugeinthesmallnovel,andsomeofthedetailsareverycomplexandconfusing.The

NamesakeasatitleweavesitswayintotheplotofGogolslifethroughhisBengaliculture,the

endofthenovel,andtheprogressionofhislife.

Firstofall,Gogolscultureisintegratedintothetitle.Whileprogressingthroughthe

book,readersbegintothinkofanameasapersonalterm,insteadofaliteralterm.Duringhis

life,Gogolistriestofigureoutwhohereallyisintermsofhiscultureandhisname.Atthe

beginningofthebook,GogolisashyandverytraditionalBengaliboy.Goingthroughhigh

schoolandeventuallycollege,heisimmersedinAmericantraditionsandlearnstoadoptthem.

Aftercollege,Gogolmeetsacoupleofgirls,andeventuallymeetsMoushumi,whohemarries.

Fromthispointon,itisasifheistryingtofindoutwhatheisnamedafter.Theirweddingis

describedashavingclosetothreehundredpeopleandservingIndianfood(Lahiri219),which

reflectsthetroublesbetweenBengalicultureandAmericanculture.Thissetsthescenefor

Gogolstroubleinfindingwhohereallyis.

Secondly,theendofthenovelissignificanttothetitle.Asheisfindinghimselfandhis

name,Gogolhasalotoftroubles.Itisalmostasifheisadifferentpersonwhenhechangeshis

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name.WhenGogolisatcollege,thenarratorstatesthatitisasNikhilthatheloseshisvirginity

ataparty(Lahiri105).ThisisunusualbecauseheisalwayscalledGogolthroughoutthebook,

andhasneverbeencalledNikhil.Then,towardstheendofthebook,everythingchangeswhen

Gogolstartstoread(Lahiri291)booksbytheauthorhewasnamedafter,andtheauthorhis

fatherusedtolove.Thisiswhereitclickstoreadersthatnotonlydoeshisnamereallyrelateto

whoithenamedafter,butalsotohisdadandhismaturity.

Finally,theprogressionofGogolslifeisveryimportanttothetitleofthisnovel.Itis

statedmanytimesthroughoutthebookthathisfatherwasanavidreaderofRussianliterature,

andthathewasreadingabookbyNikolaiGogolduringthetimeofhistrainaccident.This

happening,alongwiththetroublesnamingGogol,forcedhisparentstonameGogolwhatheis

named.Thisautomaticallygavehimtheresponsibilitytoliveuptohisdadsexpectationsbased

ontheauthor.Whenhegrewupandchangedhisname,hislifewentdownhill.

TheNamesakestitlerelatestoGogolslifebecauseofhisculture,thenovelplot,andhis

lifegrowingup.JhumpaLahiriwroteTheNamesakeinaverycomplexwebofcharacters,

breakupsandverydramaticscenes.Allofthecharactersinthenovelhadupsanddowns,and

Gogolexceededalloftheexpectationssetforhim.Gogolsnamehelpedweavetheplotintoits

placeandaidinthemasterpieceofTheNamesake.

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Bibliography

Lahiri,Jhumpa.TheNamesake.Boston:HoughtonMifflin,2003.Print.