Publications

Most of Jhumpa's stories talk about exile whether it is people living far away from their homeland or people moving to new countries. Her first book published was Interpreter of Melodies in 1999. Several other books include Unaccustomed Earth and The Magic Barrel. 

Jhumpa Lahiri-the Atlantic

Jhumpa Lahiri: Biography and Book Publications

More Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

Author's Biography

Jhumpa Lahiri is a Bengali Indian who has ties to three countries: England (where she was born), United States (where she was raised), and India (parents homeland). She has earned three master's degrees in English, creative writing, comparative studies in literature and the arts, and a doctorate's degree in Renaissance studies at Boston University. She is currently married to a journalist and has two children, where they all live in Brooklyn.

Jhumpa Lahiri: A Dialogue

Jhumpa Lahiri- the Atlantic

Jhumpa Lahiri: The Quiet Laureate

"There's more love and heart in The Namesake than in many Hollywood dramas. I just wish the filmmakers had spread it around. Cross-cultural understanding should be a two-way street."

Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle

"It is a saga told in small pieces, a patchwork of short scenes that tumble after each other almost apologetically, as if they would love to linger a little longer, but there is too much to tell and only so much time in which to do it."

Jonathan F. Richards Film.com

Say your name, please?

Your name is the first sense that people label you as an outcast. As a child of immigrants, you do not what American society is like and tend to make misconceptions about being treated equally by American children. While some American children do befriend you, others mistreat you often calling you nicknames derived from mispronounciation of your first name and/or last name. In Gogol's case, he is called "Giggle" or "Gargle". Because his name is not common among American children, people tease him whether it is just for fun or whether they actually mean it. They get the impression that people do not like them and so wish to change their names to common American names like "Nick" or "Joe". It is true that Gogol wishes to be called by his name instead of the name his parents give him for school (Nikhil), but eventually, to get rid of part of his heritage as he heads college, he changes his name permanently to Nikhil. Immigrant children do not realize the importance of their name in their youth, but as you age and grow wiser, you understand that your name defines who you are and what you do.

A Different Life

A significant part of The Namesake is the change of lifestyle that Gogol goes through during his love interest in Maxine. Maxine's family is on a higher class of living. They are geneous, but do not go out of their way to accommodate others. Maxine is quite different from Ruth, Gogol's past college sweetheart. She tends to be carefree and more open about her past. Life at Maxine's house with her family is quite contradictory to life with Gogol's mother and father. At his parent's house, Gogol is always burdened with his parent's beliefs and values. At Maxine's house, he lives with the thought that only Maxine and her family, along with Gogol, are the only living beings on the Earth. Gogol makes excuses to avoid traveling back to his parent's home even when it is his birthday because he loves staying with a family that treats him like an ordinary American. He also does not wish to introduce Maxine to his family for his family believes that she is just a phase in his life and would not approve of her. Living a different life is a vital part in The Namesake for Gogul because it symbolizes change in the culture of living what ancestors have lived for thousands of years.

Love

A significant issue in the The Namesake is love, specifically dating and marriage. During Gogol's youth, he does not date anyone even though he may have had some crushes on girls. In Indian culture, it is traditional for love to be arranged specifically in the form of arranged marriages. Gogol's parents have never been on a date and have never danced so they see no motive to encourage him to go find love. His first taste of love is when he kisses a girl named Kim at a college party. He not only tells people he kissed her, but also says that it was Nikhil, his American name. As time progresses, he becomes involved in love interests with a girl named Ruth that he met in college. After she spends two semesters in England studying literature and returns, Ruth and Gogol began fighting and admit that something had changed between them and so they break up. Gogol's next love interest is with Maxine who he meets at a party. However, he begans to lose interest with her after his father's death for he has to deal with his emotional complications. His final love was Moushumi in which Gogol's mom set up a meeting for Gogol to have a relationship with her. Both are Indian so they have a similar cultural background, but Moushumi is not happy and begins to have a love affair with another man. Gogol finds out and divorces her. Love in The Namesake displays a sense of hopelessness for Gogol for he can never be happy again.

Significance of Life

A significant event in The Namesake is the naming of Gogol by his father. Ashoke Ganguli is the father of Gogol and was a student in electrical engineering at the time Gogol was born. He has stayed in the United States longer than Ashmia Ganguli and so knows his way around a foreign country. On October 20, 1961, he was nearly killed in a train wreck on his way to his grandparents house. Before the train wreck occurred, he was reading a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol. When the train wreck occurred, he was on the brink of death. He was still clutching a page that was torn out of the book of short stories by Nikolai Gogol. Ashoke believes that the book saved his life. It prevented his death, so in a way it gave him life. When Gogol was born, the letter that was written by Ashima's grandmother to name the baby was lost forcing his parents to make a decision. Ashoke decided to name him Gogol. The book by Nikolai Gogol was a symbol of life and the naming of Gogol shows the symbolism of being alive.

Homesick

One of the significant people in The Namesake is Ashima Ganguli. Ashima Ganguli is the mother of Gogol and is an immigrant to the United States from Calcutta, India. Just like other immigrants, she is lost in America for this is a vast country and the culture is quite different from Calcutta. When she is pregnant with Gogul and in the hospital to deliver, she is afraid because there is no one other than her husband to be with her when their son is born. All of their extended family still live in India. In Cambridge, she lives alone for the day trying to take care of Gogol, but admits to her husband that she wants to go back to India. From others perspective, people think that she should face her problems head on or question her ability to live in America. However, from Ashima's perspective and from other immigrant mothers, this is quite understandable. In a country where you do not know the people or their culture, you make misconceptions and mistakes which can lead to consequences. As time progresses, you begin to lose your family one by one just like Ashima's father who died when Gogol was only one year old. People must understand from the immigrant's perspective that coming to live in another country, even if it is the United States with the land of oppurtunities, is quite difficult and can take much time to adjust to.