Post B # 7

I thought that the Namesake was a pretty good book overall, but the ending was terrible. Some would say that it was just meant to be that way, but the way Lahiri ended the story was bad for the protagonist, and bad for the reader. I thought that after he met, married, and settled down with an Indian woman, the book would kind of wind down, and end happily. I know that that is cliché, but I don't care, because that is what readers like to read. The story, however, didn't wind down. Moushumi finds a letter addressed to someone named Dmitri, and it stirs old memories in her. Dmitri was Moushumi's first sexual partner, from either college or highschool. She remembers that some of the first words he said to her were, "You're going to make a lot of men cry." What angered me is that she lived up to that. When she finds Dmitri's letter, she meets him and starts having an affair.
Gogol first hears of Dmitri when they go out with Moushumi's friends, and he starts to ask himself questions. They are just harmless questions like, "Who is he," and, "Where is he now," but he does eventually find out that she is having an affair with him, and it makes him sick. "The question had sprung out of him, something he had not consciously put together in his mind until that moment. It felt almost comic to him, burning in his throat. [...] He felt the chill of her secrecy, numbing him, like a poison spreading through his veins" (282). I felt like the book was just a big hypocritical joke after I read about it. All throughout the novel, Gogol's family and relatives had been telling him, "Just make sure you marry an Indian woman." He has some affairs with American women, and then marries an Indian woman, and what does she do? Cheat on him. The ending of The Namesake was disheartening, and left Gogol feeling cold and alone.

The Namesake Post A # 7

Now that Gogol has broken up with Maxine, his mother is pressuring him into finding someone else. She is just looking out for him, and he seems annoyed at first, but after a few days, he agrees to call an old childhood "friend" (they never really talked when they were children) Moushumi Mazoomdar. They meet at a coffee shop in a "blind date." She starts out saying how his name is now Nikhil, as opposed to Gogol. He tells her yes. "It had annoyed him, when he'd called her, that she hadn't recognized him as Nikhil. This is the first time he's been out with a woman who'd once known him by that other name" (193). He then explains to her why he changed his name. Moushumi then reminds him how when they were young, her parents told her to call him Gogol Dada. In Indian families, it is not uncommon for one kid to call another dada, or didi, if it is a girl. In American culture that sounds ridiculous, and I can attest to that. Some of my relatives were "supposed" to call me Daniel Dada and Priya, Priya Didi. They laughed about it and maybe used it about two times before deciding it was silly. Probably the closest thing we have to that in American culture is "bro" or "sis," but I'm pretty sure no one calls a girl "sis," and bro is never used in a truly serious manner.

Post B # 6

In this section, Gogol becomes closer to Maxine as their relationship progresses, but then breaks up with her. Things seemed to be going well (except for the fact that Gogol's parents didn't like her because she seems to be the "dumb American blond" type. Then one day, Ashima gets an unexpected phone call saying that her husband has died in the hospital. When Nikhil hears that his father had died, it begins the process of him getting closer to his family, and farther apart from Maxine. It started when he said he was going to see his mom, something he would have never done before. She told him to check himself into a hotel, but instead he just slept at his father's apartment. I didn't think much of this, but it was the first time he had "defied" (if it can even be called that) her. It suprised me how in the next pages, he spends most of his time with his mother and Sonia. I understand that it is his father who died, but I guess I was suprised that he wasn't so estranged that he would completely not care. A passage that supports this happens when Maxine comes up to visit after the eleven day mourning period. She asks him if he wants to go to New Hampshire after this, to get away. His answer is, "I don't want to get away" (182). He is changing, and now wants more to do with his family, and wants to do more of what his mother wants of him. After his father died, he began to spend more nights with his family, and the nights he spent with Maxine were quieter. She dealt with this for a while, but the last straw was pulled when she was not invited to go with them to Calcutta. After that, Nikhil and Maxine decided it was best to stop seeing each other. I was actually suprised by this, because thus far in the novel, I thought that the life of the Ratliffe's was exactly what Nikhil wanted. With them, he fit in.

The Namesake Post A # 6

Gogol begins to spend more and more time with Maxine and her family. He moves in with Maxine, and after six months, her parents give him a set of keys to their house. Gogol describes the differences between the dinner parties that Gerald and Lydia have, as opposed to the ones his parents have. "Only a dozen or so guests sitting around the candlelit table [...] talking intelligently until the evening's end. [...] cheerfully unruly evenings to which there were never fewer than thirty people invited, small children in tow" (140). He then describes again, the food differences between the two party styles. In Gerald and Lydia's parties, wine is the center of attention, and in his parent's parties, getting food is the meal priority. I can make connections to this, seeing how I have actually attended many Indian "gatherings," and yes, the parties are like that. Seconds and thirds are a big part. You are expected to keep going up for more food until you are completely full and cannot eat any more. I guess for American dinner parties, it does depend on who the crowd is, but I do agree that some would be conducted like that.

Post B # 5

When I started reading The Namesake, my dad actually suggested that I watch the film. He said the film adaptation, starring Kal Penn was well done, and that it was something worth watching. It would be a "good supplement" to what I was reading. I was able to watch half of the film two weeks ago, but I was not able to finish it. My parents were a bit mad at me for it. My dad said that I "missed the best part." From what I did see, the film was indeed very well done. I noticed that both of Gogol's parents did act in the typical (maybe even stereotypical fashion). Ashima spoke her English in a fairly heavy Indian accent, and acted shy, and ashamed to show skin. An example of her reserved manner occurs when she is in the hospital, pregnant with Gogol. She is wearing a hospital dress, the kind that is reserved for maternity. She asks the nurse for a longer dress, and the nurse replies, "You don't want to hide those legs, honey." Also, Ashoke is represented well. He is portrayed as a quieter character, and wise, as if the train accident gave him a new outlook on life. Kal Penn also does a great job portraying an American teenager not knowing what to do with his Indian heritage. He is highly intelligent, blasts Pearl Jam in his room, has long hair, and smokes pot occasionally with his friends at Yale. It is also implied that he has been with more than one girl, but the film does show him being with Maxine for a part of it. My parents want me to watch the end, but I have read the end of the book and I don't want to see that put on film. I don't want to see Kumar disgraced.

The Namesake Post A # 5

Gogol breaks up with Ruth, and after a little bit, he meets another girl named Maxine. They begin to date, and Maxine invites him (Gogol tells her his name is Nikhil) to her house for dinner, the second day after they meet. Later on, Maxine goes to Gogol's house for dinner. The most striking differences that I noticed were in the manners of the two families. Maxine's parents are more of the "Mi casa es su casa" type, while Gogol's parents are the reserved, quiet, Indian type parents. For example, when Maxine introduces her parents by their first names, Gerald and Lydia, nobody seems to mind, but Gogol's parents get uneasy when Maxine addresses them by "Ashima" and "Ashoke." In addition to this, the meal they have for dinner is not of epic proportions, and there is no indication that seconds are available (I know that this is not what a typical American family would do, but it is what the family in this book does). Gogol knows that the exact opposite would be going on at his house, if they had Maxine over for dinner. "His own mother would never have served so few dishes to a guest. She would have kept her eyes trained on Maxine's plate, insisting she have seconds and thirds (133)." Lastly, I know that I talked about this already, but there is now a concrete example of the difference in public affection between Indian and American married couples. "Seeing Gerald's head resting on Lydia's shoulder, Gogol is reminded that [...] Whatever love exists between them [his parents] is an utterly private, uncelebrated thing (138)." Gogol is happy being with Maxine, and although both of their parents lives are extremely different, I believe that Gogol is happy with her. Being a native-born American, I think that this is the life that he wanted, but could never have.

Post B # 4

Gogol goes home to visit his parents, and his father tells him the reason for his name, the reason behind Gogol, his namesake. "These days he is called Gogol so seldom that the sound of it no longer upsets him as it used to. After three years of being Nikhil the vast majority of the time, he no longer minds (122)." While being called Gogol used to bother him, he is so rarely called it now that it doesn't bother him anymore. I find this ironic, because after what his father says, he might want the name Gogol again (then again he might not, because he has despised it his whole life, and is used to his life the way things are). Ashoke tells him the story of how Nikolai Gogol has always been his favorite author, and the train ride in Bangladesh. He tells him how the train crashed, and the rescuers saw him because he was holding up a few of the pages from the book he was reading at the time. Gogol's father's body had been badly mangled by the crash, and moving the papers was the only thing he could do to signal that he was still alive. Gogol is moved by this, but also shocked. He is shocked that his own father kept such a secret from him all of his life. When asked if he reminds his father of that day, however, he shakes his head and says, "Not at all. You remind me of everything that followed (124)." I believe that his father telling him why Gogol was named the name he was, is an important turning point for him, and I think that he will be able to appreciate more of his heritage. Because he knows the "why" of his name, I do not think he will feel as alienated from his parents anymore.