Analysis Of Jhumpa Lahiri s The Namesake, Ashoke And...

Embracing Culture Immigrants to America face a major challenge when they first arrive. These immigrants from all different backgrounds and cultures feel like outsiders in America because the culture they have been immersed in their entire lives is no longer present in America. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli come to the United States after they have lived in India for nearly thirty years. Ashoke and Ashima are only familiar with the Bengali customs and traditions; they have no sense of the American culture. In America, they have a son Gogol. Ashima and Ashoke surround Gogol in Bengali culture in any way they can in America. Even Gogol grows up in a Bengali household, Gogol identifies more with the American culture throughout his entire adolescence and into his adult life. As Gogol grows older, he tries to avoid his parents at all costs. The direct clash of Gogol’s American culture and his parents’ Bengali culture is what caused the sepa ration between Gogol and his parents. On the Ganguli’s trip to Calcutta, Gogol sees the Bengali culture first hand. Before the family even leaves for India, Gogol, â€Å"... dreads the thought of eight months without a room of his own, without his records and his stereo, without friends.†(79) Records and a stereo are objects that are common in the American culture. Gogol thinking naming these objects shows that he has adopted the American culture. Instead of expressing excitement, he hates the idea of having to leaveShow MoreRelatedThe Struggle to be Bengali and American in Jhumpa Lahiris The Namesake3046 Words   |  12 Pagesï » ¿Outline I. The Namesake critical essay A. Introduction 1. Emphasis on how formation of identity is germane to Ganguli family due to their Bengali culture and their American surroundings. 2. Thesis a. The cultural values of the past cannot be erased, and needs to be rectified with the present in order to forge a salutary identity for the future. B. Supporting Paragraph: Ashimas journey 1. Her resistance to American culture while pregnant eventually leads to a resistance of Bengali culture