Essay:
Throughout the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol Ganguli is
an unwilling Indian. Despite being the child of two traditional Indian
immigrants, Gogol wants nothing more to wrap himself in the conformity of
American culture. Gogol is shaped by the American culture he venerates and the
Indian culture he so resists; but in the end, his rejection of his Indian
culture is what eventually pulls him back to it.
Gogol's parents, Ashoke and Ashima, perfectly embody the
Indian values of perseverance, dedication, and the pursuit of knowledge. The
two are immigrants, but their views of America are starkly different: Ashoke
adores America and views it as a place for growth and learning, while Ashima
thinks of America as a temporary bridge and longs to return to India.
Throughout Gogol's childhood, he is primarily molded by his parents, the Indian
culture. They imprint their values on him, begin shaping him to be a good
Indian son. These values press into Gogol's subconscious and form the core of
his "deeper" characteristics, his morals especially. Gogol is
young and naive and unaware of the embarrassment he will self-inflict later
because of his unique name. It is only when he grows that he becomes more
perceptive of the strangeness of his name, the way it awkwardly rolls off the
tongue of Americans. This is the first crack that will lead to a gaping chasm
between Gogol and his parents: his embarrassment of the name they gave
him.
Gogol becomes a rebellious young teenager, choosing to
immerse himself in wild, free-spirited American culture and turning his back on
his Indian self. This distancing from his parents' culture reaches a peak when
Gogol decides to change his name to Nikhil simply because it is more Americanized.
The rebellions continue: Gogol decides to major in architecture rather than
follow his father's engineering footsteps. He fools around and dates American
girls. He does not even try to contact his parents after he matures into
adulthood. Gogol essentially tries to rewrite his own story, starting with the
seemingly insignificant act of changing his name. Those who knew him, the old
him, will forever know him as Gogol; yet those who do not meet him until he
goes to college will know him as the (supposedly new and improved) Nikhil. His
immersion in American culture influences the development of his
"surface" characteristics: The way he laughs. The way he talks. The
way he dresses. He represses his Indian influences to the best of his ability,
yet some are still evident, especially childhood residues. Gogol still carries
a insecurity and belief that he isn't good enough for his white lovers that
stems from the insecurity he felt from his former name. Gogol still throws
himself into his work with vigor, reflecting the hardworking spirit of
immigrant cultures.
The death of Gogol's father is the turning point that
returns lucidity to Gogol's clouded vision. Gogol, so enveloped in his
Americanness prior, finally frees himself from this cocoon and goes over the
chasm between his aching mother and he after Ashoke's sudden death. Many of the
shallow traits Gogol picked up during his years under American influence are
shed as he returns to Ashima and takes responsibility for his actions, his
family. He realizes that he cannot repress his Indian self forever; it is a
part of him. Gogol stops trying to change his story and brings his rebellion
full circle.
At the end of the novel, Gogol, while at his mother's going
away party, wanders off to his old room. It is here where he stumbles upon a
book his father had gifted him on his fourteenth birthday, The Short Stories of Nikolai Gogol.
"To Gogol Ganguli: The man who gave you his name, from the man who gave
you your name." Ashoke had written as the inscription. Filled with
nostalgia, it is at the very end of the book where Gogol opens himself fully to
the Indian culture he has ran from throughout his life by opening the book and
beginning to read it.
Gogol is the product of the amalgamation of two very
different cultures. His personality and quirks are the result of his exposure
to American culture; his morals align with those of his immigrant parents.
Ironically, while Gogol despises the Indian part of him, it is this
rejection that eventually gives him a deeper appreciation of it, culminating in
the final action of Gogol beginning to read a book his father gave him so many
years ago.
Reflection:
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how to feel about my
open question essay. I guess I'm a little bit confused as to what I wrote
(never a good sign). Flowery, lush summary or semi-decent analysis? I suppose
there are bits of both in my essay, so I would give it a 5, though I think it
could fall between the 4-6 range.
Good things first, because now I'm starting to feel appalled
by just how much summarized. Like with previous essays, I tried a different
approach on my thesis, straying from the typical three-part format. This
approach allowed me to set my essay up differently (chronologically rather in
three stratified paragraphs). I made an effort at centering my essay on
the rift between Gogol and his Indian culture, mended only by Ashoke’s tragic
death.
Despite these positive qualities, I simply don't think my
essay was substantial enough to merit a higher score. This might because I'm
still not confident as to what the takeaway message from The Namesake is. I’ve reached my own
conclusions about what I think it’s about – family, identity, finding yourself.
Yet I have no clue if that’s correct. I feel like my thoughts in this essay
were more scattered than my other ones as well. Perhaps this is simply due to
the broadness of the question – I haven’t answered such wide prompts since my
middle school competition days. It’s a bit disheartening to see that I’ve
regressed in that aspect. I fell back on my panic-mode strategy of writing as
much as possible and seeing if that would make my quality of writing better
(obviously, that didn’t work). I struggled with not summarizing in my essay,
since I worried that I wouldn’t provide enough of a context for the reader.
I hope to improve my future open question essays by reading all (quality) literary works more insightfully.
I will actively search for symbols and motifs and literary devices that
enhance and shape a story and annotate them directly into my books. If I adhere to this, hopefully it will reflect in future open question essays, because I will have a deeper understanding of whatever text I choose to write about.
Beyond just reading, I hope to be able to write a more
focused essay by clearly outlining the
main points of my essay and thinking of applicable quotes that will contribute
to the clarity of my argument. I can easily measure my improvement in this
by seeing if my future essays are more cohesive and if I can actually smoothly
incorporate quotes.
Lastly, I will focus on writing a stronger analysis rather than making my essay as long and
convoluted as possible. I really need to change my mindset and remind myself
that quantity does not necessarily imply quality. I will measure my achievements
with this goal by gauging if I can score higher on future essays with shorter,
more concise arguments.
Hoping for a peer evaluation soon so I can see how my
classmates grade my writing – I’m really not confident with grading my own work.
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