Before I even began reading The Namesake, I had a lack of interest in the novel since so many individuals told me about how boring it was, so needless to say I was not too happy that I was being forced to read it! But thankfully they were wrong and it didn’t take long for the novel to peak my interest. When I hear other individuals describe why they enjoy reading the book, it is because they relate to Gogol, the protagonist of the novel, but the part that intrigued me most was how his parent’s lives reassembled the lives of my parents. In a sense, yes, it was my connection to Gogol’s life that amused me when reading the first four chapters, but it was the representation of the lives of his parents that convinced me to give my full attention while reading the novel in the very first chapter instead of just grazing through.
- Absolutely ecstatic that the novel is not as boring as I was told it would be! I am beyond grateful that it only gets more interesting from the first chapter.
The first characters that we are introduced to in the novel are Ashima and Ashoke, a married Bengali couple living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ashima is depicted as a soft- spoken woman who lived with her parents and most importantly, has a profound education (compared to a lot of women in India). Ashoke is portrayed as an intelligent man who is very well accustomed to American culture since he has been living in North America for quite some time. This was the first aspect in the novel that I could relate to my parents and it triggered my curiosity about the couple. My mother is a Ph.D. scholar and only moved to Canada after marrying my dad, needless to say there was a significant culture shock, followed by an immense weather shock as well. I don’t know about you but I don’t think I’d react well if I had to travel from India, a place with warm weather, to Northern America, a place with snow!
Ashima was put through the exact same situation and she reacted no differently from my mother. My dad on the other hand, received no culture shock (no weather shock either!) since he was immersed into Canadian culture at the young age of 16 when he moved to Hearst, ON. Just like Ashoke, my father came to Northern America for education and experience, making the both of them more accustomed to the lifestyle and the cold weather!
Below is the difference in temperature from where my mom came from in India and where she moved to in Canada:
Below is the difference in temperature from where Ashima would have come from in India and where she moved to in Massachusetts:
When the author is finished providing the background of Ashima and Ashoke, we are taken deeper into the struggles that Ashima faces as she attempts to integrate into America without her family by her side to support her. She seems somewhat depressed, which is completely understandable considering she wasn’t just stripped of the physical warmth of her home (India), but she is also deprived of the warmth of her family. Not soon after describing the hardship of isolation, Ashima goes into labor. At least she won’t be lonely for long! Throughout her labor, Ashima longs for her family and to be surrounded by the ones she loves so she’s not exactly thrilled about being left alone in a room all by herself, if anything she’s confused. She never imagined herself alone during her labor; it wasn’t the norm in India. “In India, [Ashima] thinks to herself, women go home to their parents to give birth, away from husbands and in-laws and household cares, retreating briefly to childhood when the baby arrives” (Lahiri 4). I can’t help but wonder if that’s the way my own mother felt when she was going through labor without her family… I hope not!
Once Gogol is born, Ashima becomes more upset. Overwhelmed with the responsibility of a newborn baby, Ashima begins to miss her family even more; “I don’t want to raise Gogol alone in this country. It’s not right. I want to go back [to India]” (Lahiri 33). In Indian culture, the mother would receive assistance from family members and relatives when raising a firstborn, but Ashima received nothing. My mom also overcame this struggle, but in a completely different way than Ashima. Ashima became independent and learnt to take care of her child, my mother on the other hand, fought to bring her parents into Canada so that they could help raise my older brother and I.
- My parents had a great influence when the Liberal Government was considering allowing elder immigrants into Canada for family matters. My parents challenged the Government in order to allow my grandparents to enter Canada to aid my mother in raising my older brother and I. They won.
Although Ashima was also faced with the obstacle of raising her child alone and reacted to the situation differently than my mother did, Ashima still managed to overcome that obstacle. She slowly submersed herself in American culture and became an independent woman, conquering the difficulties that she had faced before. When Ashima slowly began pushing herself out of her comfort zone, I couldn’t help but feel proud of her. You know it’s a good book when you develop an emotional attachment to a fictional character…
My love and support goes out to Ashima!
Reading how similar Gogol’s parents were to my own made me want to keep reading because for some odd reason, I assumed there would be a connection between me and Gogol. I mean why wouldn’t there be?! If our parents faced similar circumstances, perhaps we would! The first thing Gogol and I share in common is a strange name that literally everyone reads twice before even attempting to pronounce. As I continued to read, I was not surprised to find out that my prediction was right; Gogol and I were raised in a like manor as well. In The Namesake, the Ganguli’s put in effort to explore the area around them in their spare time to familiarize themselves with America, but they also aspire to keep a connection with their Indian culture by often associating with fellow Bengali’s. My family did the exact same thing; taking trips around Canada as a pursuit to fit into Canadian culture and having large gatherings with MANY Indian families in order to preserve our Indian culture. The main difference here is that the Ganguli’s only invited a couple of families over to their house to socialize whereas my family would invite around a billion (literally).
- Gogol wasn’t the only kid whose dad took him on an island on the coast of the Ocean. Gogol might have gone to Cape Cod, but I bet he’s never been to Victoria, BC.
- Yes, part of preserving the culture meant dressing up!
As you have read, I connect a lot to this novel mainly because I am a second generation immigrant just like Gogol. But for those of you who are not second generation immigrants, I still strongly encourage you to read The Namesake! One thing I found very interesting is that you are given a whole new perspective on immigration through Ashima; I have always thought that immigrants would be excited for a chance to move to a more developed country such as America, but with Ashima that is not the case! Ashima is hesitant about living in America, who wouldn’t be after being thrown into an entirely different culture (and climate!). But when she arrives in America she receives way less than what she expected. I wonder how many immigrants this happens to! When Ashima imagined America she pictured the beautiful white picket houses with backyards and gorgeous green grass, but what she got was “not at all what she had expected. Not at all like the houses in Gone With the Wind or The Seven-Year Itch…” ( Lahiri 30).
EXPECTATION VS. REALITY
How many immigrants are completely blindsided when they arrive in America or even other places in the world? I have thought of the struggles immigrants face in adapting to another culture (and climate!), but this novel brings up a new concept that many immigrants are coming to a new country completely unaware of what to expect, or their expectations are surreal. Just some food for thought!
Contrary to the popular belief, I believe that The Namesake is a great novel (so far!) so hopefully it stays that way! Whether it does or doesn’t, you’ll find out on my next blog entry. So until then…
P.S. To those first or second generation immigrants reading this blog entry, I know it’s not always easy being the kid of an immigrant! So click on the link bellow and hopefully it lightens your mood and makes you laugh when you bring home that 99% and your parents ask what happened to that other 2% instead of saying good job!
23 Problems Only Kids Of Immigrant Parents Will Understand
first-gen-struggles 
I really liked how personal this blog entry was, the connections made between Gogol’s life and you parents, even the addition of the weather comparison made this really interesting and entertaining to read 🙂
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Thank you!
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It’s not only amazing but admirable how your mother challenged the Canadian government to bring your grandparents to Canada, and paved the way for other emigrants to bring their families as well. Additionally, I agree that the cultural similarieties between the Ganguli family and my own, have made for a very interesting read, especially how we can both relate to Gogol in the sense that we both have uncommon names. Furthermore, I agree with your insight on how the book shines a whole new perspective on emigration, and how rather than being excited to move to a country with a great reputation for the American Dream that there are many factors to consider that would make the move frightening. Finally, you used a lot of wonderful resources to connect to your writing such as GIFS, the comparison of the weather in India and Canada, as well as personal pictures (i.e. the newspaper with your parents), and have made for a very effective first blog post!
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I also wasn’t thrilled about reading this book as I heard it was boring. I, however, am having a very difficult time enjoying it because I cannot connect with the main character. I was born in Canada and so were my parents so I have never had to deal with the struggle of adapting to a new culture or trying to balance two different cultures.
I think you are right that the weather is one huge difference that people immigrating to north america are not ready for. In particular people who are fleeing from their home countries since I would say they are probably more concerned with getting OUT of their country then with what they are going to do once they get into Canada.
I enjoyed reading your blog as It seems that you have a lot of connections from your life to that of Gogol. It is incredible how your mother fought the government to bring the rest of her family over.
Well written post, Keep it up!
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