As his Story Comes to an End

I just finished the novel, The Nakesake by Jhumpa Lahari and I am not sure what I think about the ending. If you haven’t read or finished reading the novel stop here because there will be some major spoilers in this post.

First of all, I cannot believe the Moushumi cheated on Gogol with Dimitri I thought that they were so perfect for each other and would make them realize and appreciate their culture but that just didn’t happen. Moushumi basically married her rebound.  Eventually Gogol finds out about the affair by accident when she says, “Dimitri says Siena is something out of a fairy tale” (Lahari 282). I wish that she had just gone and told Gogol that she was not happy with their marriage and wanted a divorce. I really like Moushumi as a character and I thought that she would make Gogol happy but now her character just disgusts me. In the end, I was happy that they got a divorce so Gogol can eventually move on with his life and find someone that will make him happy like Sonia and Ben.

In the end I am really happy that Gogol realizes how much his parents did to try to make him happy in America. I really enjoyed the fact that he finally appreciated all that his parents had done for him, how they integrated American traditions and celebrations into their home so that he and Sonia could have a normal childhood.

Just like Gogol I don’t understand how my parents could leave their homes at such a young age to move to America. I simply cannot understand how they were able to leave everything they new, their families and their lives behind to come here. I defiantly have a greater appreciation of what my parents have done for me through reading this book and it seems like Gogol does as well. 

Getting Back To The Culture

In this last chapter it was really nice to see Gogol reconnect with his Indian culture and heritage. Ever since his father died Gogol has been stuck in the past and overly attached to his family, which resulted in the “absence of Maxine” (Lahiri 188). I was really excited to see Gogol reconnect with himself, before he became Nikhil and continue with his life after his father died.

I really like Gogol’s new girlfriend Moushumi. She is able to reconnect him with his Indian roots in a way that no one has been able to. Both of these people shared similar upbringings. Their parents were both Bengali and they were imbedded in an Indian culture that neither of them particularly enjoyed. They both ran away from their culture and families any opportunity they had. Gogol went to New York and avoided talking to his family for months and Moushumi went to France a country that “had not claim whatsoever” over her (Lahiri 214). I found it really interesting how both of these characters experienced the same things making them even more perfect for each other.

I think that Moushumi is the perfect match for Gogol. She has known him both as Gogol and Nikhil and I think that she has just enough Indian and American qualities to show Gogol that there is a happy medium between these two cultures. I really hope that they continue to date and he doesn’t lose her like Maxine because I think that Moushumi is the perfect match for Gogol. If he marries her I know that he would make his father very proud.  

A New Name a New Life

Ever since Gogol changed his name to Nikhil he has become a completely different person. In these last few chapters I have seen Gogol completely change. I feel like he only wants to embrace parts of the American culture and experience things that he knows his parents never will and may not particularly be found of.

First of all, Gogol has now had two serious relationships with American women. These are not the typical Indian women his parents had expected for him but instead seem to be true Americans and are open to the idea of their daughters dating an India. The fact that Gogol is Indian does not bother them at all and I think it shouldn’t. Both Rose and Maxine’s families have accepted him into their families almost immediately. Even in the book it says, “from the very beginning he feels effortlessly incorporated into their lives”(Lahiri136). Their families are so welcoming to Gogol and so different than the family he has had that he is drawn even deeper into the American culture. This is clearly shown when he has dinner with Maxine’s family for the first time. He is so shocked at how different the dinner is, even saying his “mother would never have served so few dishes to a guest” (Lahiri 133). He can’t even imagine his parents carrying a solid conversation with Maxine’s parents. I think that’s why he keeps pushing them away.

I think that he is afraid of embracing his Indian culture because to him it may mean that he has to forget his American side. I saw this when, after visiting his parents Maxine notices that his father had called him Gogol. I found it really interesting that he did not tell her about his pet name and its importance to his culture but instead simply brushed it off. For almost the entire book so far Gogol just wants to be considered another American kid but I think he has to get over his insecurities and be completely honest with his girlfriend if he wants anything to come out of it.  

Homesick

So far I have really liked the Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. While I have only read the first two chapters of the novel I find the storyline really interesting and I am excited to see Ashima go back home to her family.

At least until now all Ashima has talked about is her family. Even when she is in labor and after giving birth she is continuously thinking about how here family should be there with her. This is clearly shown when it says, “these acquaintances are only substitutes for the people for the people who really ought to be surrounding them” (Lahiri 24). She just wants her mother to be with her though this tough time and I completely understand that. I don’t even think she had the chance to say a proper goodbye before she was whisked away by here new husband to a land completely foreign to her.

I think what bothers her more than her own sorrow and pain is that her new born son, Gogol, will have to grow up in this land without any aunts or uncles or even more important to Ashima, grandparents. She explicitly states this when she says, “She has never known of a person entering the world so alone, so deprived” (Lahiri 25). She just wants her child to be raised in the same way she was, around people that will love him no matter what.

Ashima is lonely in Cambridge and I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t tell her husband. At first I understood when she said she didn’t want to embarrass him but now that they have a child together things needed to change. That is why I was really happy to see her build up the courage to tell him that she is not happy there. I feel like they are just starting to communicate with each other and understand each other like a married couple should.

I can’t wait to see what happens as they go back to Calcutta to see Ashima’s family. I want to see how Ashoka helps Ashima get though this tough time and more importantly see if Ashima is even willing to come back to Cambridge.