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.