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.