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The Namesake

114 statements
21 feature instances
3 referencing feature instances

The Namesake	type	TVTItem
The Namesake	label	The Namesake
The Namesake	page	TheNamesake
The Namesake	comment	The Namesake is the second book by Jhumpa Lahiri, who had previously won the Pulitzer Prize for her debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies. While not as well-received as her debut, Lahiri's novel still garnered positive reviews from critics, who lauded its universal theme of cultural dissonance.Released in 2004, it focuses on Gogol Ganguli, the son of Ashoke and Ashima, who are Indian immigrants to America. Gogol, throughout the novel, struggles to navigate his own distance from his cultural heritage as well as his parents' difficulties with cultural alienation. He becomes disillusioned with his first name (named after Nikolai Gogol), and keeps himself independent from his parents and his heritage by changing it. After a crisis of faith, he reconciles with his culture, only to find out that his relationships and his identity are far more complex than he would wish.It was adapted into a film of the same name, which has its own trope page here.
The Namesake	fetched	2023-04-14T16:12:46Z
The Namesake	parsed	2023-04-14T16:12:46Z
The Namesake	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Namesake	sameAs	http://dbpedia.org/resource/The_Namesake_(film)
The Namesake / int_1f67b15	type	"Rediscovering Roots" Trip
The Namesake / int_1f67b15	comment	"Rediscovering Roots" Trip: The novel is about a second-generation Indian-American named Gogol. In Chapter 4, his father takes a sabbatical and moves the family back to Calcutta for eight months, which was partially intended to help Gogol and his sister Sonia connect with their heritage. While his parents are thrilled to be back in India, the children are uncomfortable due to their American upbringing. By the end of the trip, Gogol does gain an appreciation for the country, but it is soured by the two of them falling ill.
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The Namesake / int_1f67b15	featureConfidence	1.0
The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_1f67b15
The Namesake / int_2cf282ea	type	She Is All Grown Up
The Namesake / int_2cf282ea	comment	She Is All Grown Up: Moushimi, whom Gogol used to play with (or not) when they were both small.
The Namesake / int_2cf282ea	featureApplicability	1.0
The Namesake / int_2cf282ea	featureConfidence	1.0
The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_2cf282ea
The Namesake / int_36ae9f5d	type	Traumatic Haircut
The Namesake / int_36ae9f5d	comment	Traumatic Haircut: Gogol has one after Ashoke dies, mimicking what Ashoke himself did when his father died.
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The Namesake / int_36ae9f5d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_36ae9f5d
The Namesake / int_5e111c91	type	Uncle Pennybags
The Namesake / int_5e111c91	comment	Uncle Pennybags: Maxine's parents, Lydia and Gerald. They host extravagant parties and treat Gogol like family.
The Namesake / int_5e111c91	featureApplicability	1.0
The Namesake / int_5e111c91	featureConfidence	1.0
The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_5e111c91
The Namesake / int_6b3c357e	type	Ivy League for Everyone
The Namesake / int_6b3c357e	comment	Ivy League for Everyone: Gogol goes to Yale and Columbia, Ashoke studies and later teaches at MIT, and Sonia goes to Stanford (which is technically not an Ivy, but still a very prestigious school).
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The Namesake / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
The Namesake / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: Gogol was not named according to Bengali tradition, but after his father's favorite author, whose writing saved his father's life. Significant because it symbolizes Gogol's feeling of distance from both cultures, and from his father. Ashima, meaning 'she who is without borders', is also rife with symbolism: she bridges the cultural gap for her family, constructs a Bengali community in Boston, and in the end chooses to spend her time between Calcutta and America, not fixed in any one place.
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_6bda9a30
The Namesake / int_8c49c29e	type	Zig-Zagging Trope
The Namesake / int_8c49c29e	comment	Zig-Zagged by Sonia. Her real name is Sonali, but at the same time, she does not have a separate pet name common in Bengali households; thus, Sonia becomes both her good name and pet name.
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The Namesake / int_8e20979	type	Wham Episode
The Namesake / int_8e20979	comment	Wham Chapter: When it finally seems as though Gogol has settled into a routine in his surroundings and relationship, Ashoke dies.
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The Namesake / int_8efbd9d2	type	Meaningful Funeral
The Namesake / int_8efbd9d2	comment	Meaningful Funeral: Ashoke's. Not only does the book describe the extensive rituals done by Bengalis during their funerals, but it also highlights Gogol's sudden revelation to reconcile with his culture again.
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_8efbd9d2
The Namesake / int_94e4c8ab	type	Betty and Veronica
The Namesake / int_94e4c8ab	comment	Betty and Veronica: Gogol's girlfriends, Maxine and Moushimi, deconstruct this trope. Maxine is white and wealthy, with liberal parents who welcome Gogol into their home and treat him like family, even if there are plenty of Innocently Insensitive moments where their ignorance of Indian culture becomes apparent. She offers Gogol the prospect of integration into America that he feels like he's searching for. Moushimi is a childhood friend and fellow Indian American, and is a much more comfortable choice with Gogol's parents. However, Maxine is more down-to-earth and sensible, nicer, and her relationship with Gogol is much more positive until his father's death causes him to withdraw into himself. In contrast, his marriage to Moushimi represents his retreat into his heritage and the familiar, for both him and his parents, but she is flighty, toxic, and ultimately unfaithful.
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The Namesake / int_95428daa	type	Rite of Passage
The Namesake / int_95428daa	comment	Rite of Passage: The annaprasan both Sonia and Gogol have as infants. While Gogol is wavering and unsure during his, Sonia is confident and even happy. This foreshadows their roles as adults.
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_95428daa
The Namesake / int_959cb9aa	type	One Degree of Separation
The Namesake / int_959cb9aa	comment	One Degree of Separation: Every single Indian in the book is Bengali (from the state of West Bengal or Bangladesh). Every single one. It's pretty unlikely given that there are about twenty-two Indian Languages recognized by the Indian government; while it may be true that Bengalis have immigrated more than any other Indian subgroup, you are much more likely to meet an Indian who speaks Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, or any language but Bengali.
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_959cb9aa
The Namesake / int_a00f2ac9	type	First Kiss
The Namesake / int_a00f2ac9	comment	First Kiss: Gogol has his with an MIT student named Kim while he's still a junior in high school. This directly leads to him eventually changing his name to Nikhil, since Kim liked that name a lot better.
The Namesake / int_a00f2ac9	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_a00f2ac9
The Namesake / int_a30c287	type	Good Parents
The Namesake / int_a30c287	comment	Good Parents: Both Ashima and Ashoke clearly love Gogol and Sonia, and try their best to help them integrate into a completely foreign culture; often at the expense of maintaining their own comforting/familiar cultural traditions.
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The Namesake / int_a7850fbf	type	Only Known by Their Nickname
The Namesake / int_a7850fbf	comment	Only Known by Their Nickname: Gogol, who becomes 'Nick' at university. In fact, the book revolves around the idea that Bengalis are known by a "pet name" to their family and a "good name" to the outside world; Gogol was intended to be his pet name, but later became both due to complications. Zig-Zagged by Sonia. Her real name is Sonali, but at the same time, she does not have a separate pet name common in Bengali households; thus, Sonia becomes both her good name and pet name. Moushimi goes by "Mouse" to Dmitri.
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The Namesake / int_b1e8a3b3	type	Coming of Age Story
The Namesake / int_b1e8a3b3	comment	Coming of Age Story: Sort of. It chronicles 30 years of Gogol's life, but it is the story of him coming to terms with himself as an independent adult and his place in the world.
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The Namesake / int_c132c0c5	type	I Have No Son!
The Namesake / int_c132c0c5	comment	I Have No Son!: Averted; even though Gogol tries to reject his background and distance himself from his parents, they still are as much a part of his life as he will let them be, and make an effort not to be an embarrassment or call him by the wrong name.
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The Namesake / int_c91408cb	type	Everything Sounds Sexier in French
The Namesake / int_c91408cb	comment	Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Inverted by Dmitri Desjardins. His last name, with a French accent, would sound like Day-zhar-dahn. He pronounces it instead in typical American fashion. Despite the fact that Moushimi is a French student, she feels much more attracted to his incorrect way of pronouncing it because, in his doing so, Dmitri defies conventionality and cultural expectations.
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_c91408cb
The Namesake / int_e3c20140	type	As Long as It Sounds Foreign
The Namesake / int_e3c20140	comment	As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Averted, all the names of people and things in the novel are culturally appropriate, and chosen with great care.
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The Namesake / int_e3c20140	featureConfidence	1.0
The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_e3c20140
The Namesake / int_ee7a60e9	type	One-Steve Limit
The Namesake / int_ee7a60e9	comment	One-Steve Limit: Gogol feels like this applies to him, in contrast to every other person he meets, because his name isn't either American or Indian. Averted, as he is named after Nikolai Gogol, a Russian writer who is fairly prominent in the novel.
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The Namesake / int_name	type	ItemName
The Namesake / int_name	comment
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The Namesake	hasFeature	The Namesake / int_name
The Namesake / int_name	itemName	The Namesake

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Namesake	hasFeature	Asian-American Media / int_fc23f097
The Namesake	hasFeature	"Rediscovering Roots" Trip / int_fc23f097
The Namesake	hasFeature	Rite of Passage / int_fc23f097

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