Namesake discussion

The line I choose is, "Ashoke shakes his head at Gogol, disapproving, unyielding. Each day Ashoke is pained by the half-eaten sandwiches people toss into garbage cans on campus, apples abandoned after one or two bites. 'Finish it, Gogol. At your age I ate tin," (page 55). People waste food everyday not even thinking about others who don't have food at all. Ashoke was disappointed in his son for not finishing his food because now the food is going to go to waste. Some people aren't grateful or appreciate for what they have and when they do have it, they want more of it.

A believed beautiful line from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is on page 28, "This tradition doesn't exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother...Within Bengali families, individual names are sacred, inviolable. They are not meant to be inherited and shared." In the back of the book, in the blurb, I read about how they came from Calcutta hoping to adapt to the American culture. Even though they came to America to adapt, they don't lose all senses of their bengali culture. I feel like when people come from a different country, they start to lose some of their traditions because they become so evolved in becoming American. I feel that they don't want to seem left out and still keep their cultural traditions, but subconsciously they slowly start to lose their touch with their motherland. This is just the beginning of the book, which means their new and still in touch with their cultures. But I feel that this quote sets the foundation and theme for the book. It will help us see how their mindset changes as time progresses and how their first American generation son will also help contribute to their adaptations.

The golden line in The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is, "Hello Gogol," he whispers, leaning over his son's haughty face, his tightly bundled boy. "Gogol," he repeats, satisfied," (Lahiri, 28). This is the golden line for me because even though Ashima and Ashoke live in America they are still picking a name that is religious or is chosen from grandparents. Both Ashima and Ashoke did not adapt to society that fast because if they did, a different name would have been chosen for their baby boy. Ashima and Ashoke still remember where they came from and it matters because that's who they are and that's their identity. This line indicates to me even though they live in a American world they still didn't forget about their religion, they still remember it and they still didn't forget about the people behind them.

@Tanisha: Well people start to change slowly, it seems like to me at the beginning both of them Ashima and Ashoke are not going to change because they don't want to forget about their mother land. But I feel like when the child grows up, a little he will want to change his name so he can fit in with society. Do you think there is going to be twist?

In Jhumpa Lahiri's, The Namesake, the Gangulis deal with the conflicts one has to deal with when caught between two conflicting cultures with different religious and social values. One memorable line that is worth sharing is when, Ashima says,"I’m saying I don’t want to raise Gogol alone in this country. It’s not right. I want to go back.” (Page 33) This quote reveals the true emotions of Ashima’s stay abroad; even though she does not want to complain to her husband about how she does not want to raise Gogol alone she has to. She cannot handle being home alone, without any blood relatives. Back home, Ashima had everyone to take care of her family. She left her parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors to come stay with a man who she was married to. Throughout The Namesake, there are several amazing quotes that are emotionally touching, this quote particularly sticks out because its shows Ashima’s true emotions towards Gogol’s life. What this reveals about Ashima is her uneasiness from being isolated from her family and friends back home in Bangladesh. She cannot accept her reality and lingers to the moment she is reunited with her family back home. I'm loving this book so far, I can relate to Ashima became my mother was homesick when she first came to America. She had to raise her first child amongst strangers. Even though my mother had some relatives to help her out she missed the experience one would had with their parents and siblings. The book generally revolves around the idea of being an outsider and the struggles that comes with being an immigrant from Bangladesh.

Nusrath wrote: "The line I choose is, "Ashoke shakes his head at Gogol, disapproving, unyielding. Each day Ashoke is pained by the half-eaten sandwiches people toss into garbage cans on campus, apples abandoned af..."

I agree with you on how Ashoke wants his kid to appreciate what they have to eat and how not to waste food. It also draws attention to one of the main differences between Ashoke's childhood in Calcutta and Gogol's childhood in the Boston area. This is also why I believe this quote is a golden line. Some questions you may want to consider are:
How does poverty affect both Ashima and Ashoke? Why does Lahari choose to incorporate this specific moment in the book, is it necessary to include this scene to truly understand the life lessons ashoke want to inhabit in his son, why or why not?

One (or two) of the many beautiful lines I came across in The Namesake was on page 49 on how Ashima feels on being a foreigner in America. "For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy- a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been an ordinary life, only to discover that the previous life had vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding." As Ashima's life continues in America, she finds out that this life is not what she expected it to be and that everything is so much more difficult to cope with when she has half way across the globe from the rest of her family. She misses her family, who would usually help her with her actual pregnancy with Gogol both physically and mentally. Since she is a foreigner, she has to battle loneliness and keep up with things in her new life that are a burden to her or that doesn't make her feel in place. She connects the feeling of being with child to the long period of time she will have to go through in the future in the remainder of her stay in her America. I also think these two lines convey that how the past has to be swept behind us as we move on because the people and events in our past will not always be there in the future. As life progresses on, Ashima's life will be more difficult and demand her to pay attention to more of her future and where she is now than wishing for her past.

Arooj wrote: "In Jhumpa Lahiri's, The Namesake, the Gangulis deal with the conflicts one has to deal with when caught between two conflicting cultures with different religious and social values. One memorable li..."

I agree with you. I feel as if any mother that was or is in the same position as Ashima was they would feel the way she felt. I can imagine it would be difficult and terrifying when your relatives are halfway across the world and you have to learn everything by yourself with no guidance and much support. I also believe that Ashima would have liked Gogol to grow amongst the people she did and to have what she sees is a better life for her son because he would be in the company of a big family and he wouldn't have to feel lonely as she does now.

@HEM: Yeah I agree with you Hem because Ashima does not want Gogol to feel lonely because he does not have any other siblings. But when Ashima was in the hospital giving birth to her son she was missing her family back home and she was calculating the time, she was thinking about them and her family here. But I think its really hard for people that come to America to raise a child without a "big" family (grandparents,aunts,uncles.etc). That's why Ashima feels a lone and doesn't want her son to be alone. Whats was your favorite part in the book? What do you think about the book?

@Nusrath I totally agree with your response to your beautiful line. That is a great line you chose. Kids these days get/order a lot of food but don't finish it, which doesn't seem nice. Well in my family when I leave left overs in my plate, my parents just tell me "next time put let in your plate." I feel as if leaving left overs in your tray/plate doesn't seem nice but in many other religions the family gives you food and your supposed to eat all of it. You should not have any left over food, because it doesn't seem nice and mannerly. But people should always think twice,turn back around and look at the kids and people not getting any food and starving.