identity (theft) is not a joke, jim!

Isn’t it crazy how parents pick a word for us to be identified as, before we are even born? That it’s never based on us (bc how can it be if we are the size of a tennis ball that hasn’t seen the light of day) but others whom our parents are influenced by. That we will forever identify ourselves as that? We accept this tradition and continue the tradition, never quite with the intention that it would do harm to our offspring. Once we are older we find it harder to figure out who we are during our teenage years. Now, imagine having that same crisis AND not knowing whether you’re American or (in this case) Bengali. Do you go with what your friends are doing or what your parents want for you?? Throughout The Namesake, Gogol is the hyphen in between Bengali-American, not sure which one he should identify with. 

Gogol is just one example that will be discussed later in this blog. We are first introduced to Ashima Ganguli. Firstly, we see learn about the difficulty Ashima Ganguli had acclimating to a new, foreign country. Ashima is the first character introduced in The Namesake. She has an arranged marriage with Ashoke Ganguli. However, Ashoke is studying at MIT in the US so he is gone most of the day. So at the age of twenty, she has begun her newly wed life in the US with her new partner, a stranger. She is basically on her own trying to accustom to the foreign country and culture. Her English isn’t perfect so it is hard for her at first to get around and get used to the city. She is extremely homesick. She loves and misses her Bengali culture and doesn't want to let go of it. She doesn't really know how to adapt to American ways since she’s only known Bengali customs her whole life. She is torn between accepting the change or maintaining where she comes from. The former is seen when she has to name her newborn son in order to for him to be released from the hospital. In Bengali culture, everyone has two names, a good name, used in the “outside world”/ professional setting, and a pet name, used in a more personal and private setting. It’s tradition that the father’s grandmother comes up with both names. However in The Namesake, these two names are written in a letter, sent from Calcutta, but is never received. "" She and Ashoke have no choice but to personally name her son which is totally normal for Americans. It happens again when Ashoke drops off Gogol at his first day of school. He claims Gogol is perfectly bilingual and it says how Ashoke speak English to Gogol, for the first time, in front of the principal. Also, Ashima preserves her Bengali heritage by cooking Bengali dishes for her family and happily befriending other Bengali people. She hosts and attends Bengali parties with other Bengali people. She struggles to accept that her kids don't really want that in their life. She doesn't understand/know their struggle when they're older. Nonetheless she buys them pizza as she eats Bengali meals with her adult friends.

Gogol Ganguli is born in America. His parents are Bengali who grew up in Calcutta. Gogol grows up in the US with a Russian name that for first half of his life (or so), has no meaning to him. He doesn't know who he is. Gogol feels trapped. He doesn't know how to be who he really wants. His parents want one thing and he can’t exactly do what it he wants. He feels like he can’t be this person because of who he physically is. In high school when he finally learns about the horrible life Nikolai Gogol lived and the kind of person he was (essentially weak), Gogol is more confused about his name. He hates it even more.  “There is talk of the difficulty of Russian names, students confessing merely skimming them. Gogol says nothing. He has not read the story himself. He has never touched the Gogol book his father gave to him on his fourteenth birthday.” This kind of reminds me of how back in elementary school, I envied my classmates because their names were so commonly referenced in books or something in class. Anytime we came across their names, the person would say something like “heyy that’s a cool name!!” or “that’s where my name comes from!”  Of course that never happened to me except for one time in fourth grade during our social studies lesson. (yes I remember it clearly) The person reading the textbook came across “Dania” (which is pronounced like my name just different spelling obvi) and everyone's head whipped around and looked at me and suddenly I didn't feel as excited or cool like I thought it would feel or how everyone else felt when that happened to them. I suddenly didn't want that attention on me. It was so weird and I didn’t like it. In that scene, everyone seemed fazed by the name and the story of Nikolai Gogol as they were too busy trying to get it all in their notebooks, except Gogol. He was so self conscious. “It’s as though the name were a particularly unflattering snapshot of himself that makes himself want say in his defense, ‘That’s not really me.’”

Gogol gets lost in his identity because his parents overwhelm him, from the beginning, with expectations and cultural traditions that he just doesn't want. If he were in Calcutta he wouldn't have denied it but since they are among the few in America that are partaking in traditions Gogol doesn't understand, he'd rather not be a part of it. He especially experiences this huge tug-of-war between cultures and traditions as he is the first born in America. His parents don't know how to raise a kid in America. It's completely different. As mentioned before, all they know are Bengali traditions and customs. Everything they know about growing up is based off of their experiences, in Calcutta. Because once his sister Sonia is born, she is much more American from the start. This is evident in her ceremony which is like the Bengali version of a Baptism. Ashima watches as young Sonia doesn't want any part of this ceremony.

This tug-of-war between cultures is also seen when the Gangulis visit Calcutta. This causes Gogol to miss out on his 10th grade year while his parents are ecstatic to go back. The kids are in American apparel in the midst of this poverty-stricken country. They don't realize that they are in the same situation their parents had when they moved to America, unfamiliar with the language and culture. The kids don't fit in with their cousins and they are constantly moving from relatives’ homes to truly become familiar with the setting and relatives. Their cousins make fun of their American ways and how they can’t properly speak the language. While visiting they are presented as Americans in a foreign country. They can't help it though since at school the kids are exposed to American history, traditions, food, behavior, and more. Of course this is going to influence them greatly. They behave like Americans kids, such as occasionally talking back to their parents whereas in India culture there is huge respect to family/everyone older than you. Then at home, Ashima pushes their Bengali culture and traditions to the kids. For example, for his fourteenth birthday, Gogol has an American party with his friends from school and then another party, Bengali one, with his parents’ Bengali friends. It is more formal and his mother makes a lot of Bengali dishes. At school Gogol gets questioned about his name and as he gets older, he realizes how peculiar it is. He doesn't understand it so his teachers and classmates are just as confused about it too. Then at home he starts responding to his parents in English. The two kids get used to the American customs and the parents slowly begin to buy American clothes and enjoy barbeques and even celebrate parts of Christian holidays.

Overall, there is this huge back and forth between the two cultures which most of the time clashes. This creates this identity issue for everyone. Traditions, names, identity, and culture are only a few of the themes heavily repeated throughout the book.