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The Namesake Theme Essay

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The Namesake
Asian American Literature In any story, movie, novel, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, suspense or drama, there are always themes that signify the main elements of that selection. “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, has many different themes that are brought upon the reader throughout the book and movie. Some themes that are related to this story are Identity, Relationships between children and their parents, Regret, Loneliness, Language, Expectations, Cultural Differences, Immigrant Experience, Values and Beliefs, and Death and Mourning. “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri is a novel that portrays the life of a man named Gogol Ganguli and how he spent his life being born and brought up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At birth, he was given the temporary name “Gogol” since his parents, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, were waiting on Gogol’s grandmother to send them the name that she wanted. This was done in Bengali tradition for many generations. During Gogol’s early childhood, his parents sent him to school notifying the Principal to use his formal name “Nikhil.” Now since he was just a child, he was brought up with the name Gogol and did not want to be called anything else. However, as he entered high school, people started making fun of his name. He slowly started to believe that this name is not the one he wants anymore and that he wants to change it to “Nikhil.” His father told him “In America, anything is possible, so do as you wish.(pg. 100)” The theme of Identity is playing a major part at this point in Gogol’s life. He is debating whether or not he should keep his name or change it for his personal or people’s preference. After his father told him that he is free to do as he wishes, the reader can tell that the father was not happy about Gogol wanting to change his name, especially since so many years have passed, everyone at home has grown

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