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.