namesake essay topics

The Namesake

67 pages • 2 hours read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

To what extent does Gogol’s name determine his life journey? How do other characters’ names affect their identities?

Explore Ashima’s progress from a Bengali student to an American librarian through analysis of three key scenes. How does this compare to Gogol’s journey to accepting his identity?

Locate and analyze examples of how the author represents the differences between Bengali and American cultures. How do these differences tie into the novel’s themes concerning identity?

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The Namesake

Jhumpa lahiri, everything you need for every book you read..

The Indian Immigrant Experience

The experiences of the Ganguli family in America—a country that for some of them is an intensely foreign environment—offer a glimpse of life as an Indian immigrant to the United States.

What is familiar for most readers in America is deeply unfamiliar to Ashoke and Ashima , who therefore provide a unique perspective on seemingly everyday things within American society. Husband and wife have differing reactions to the barrage of new customs that greets them…

Family, Tradition, and Ritual

The importance of family in The Namesake cannot be overstated. The novel is centered around the Ganguli family, and the ways in which two very different generations interact with one another.

For Ashoke and Ashima , the concept of a family life is inherited directly from their background in India, where entire families share the same home for generations, are deeply invested in one another’s lives, and reinforce their connection to one another through a…

Independence, Rebellion, and Growing Up

Gogol’s struggle for independence from the family that he sometimes finds embarrassing is a major feature of the novel. The Namesake fits some definitions of a Bildungsroman , a coming-of-age novel, with Gogol as the protagonist who grows up over the course of the story.

Although our view into the life of Ashoke and Ashima makes them central to the novel, it is Gogol who becomes the main protagonist, and whose development we follow most…

Identity and Naming

As its title suggests, at its core The Namesake tackles the question of forming one’s own identity, and explores the power that a name can carry.

Gogol’s decision to change his name to Nikhil before leaving home for college demonstrates his desire to take control over his own identity. The name Gogol, which “Nikhil” finds so distasteful, is a direct result of the literal identity confusion at his birth, when the letter sent from India…

Love and Marriage

The novel examines the nature of love and marriage by providing an intimate view into a series of Gogol’s romantic relationships, which are seen alongside the enduring, arranged marriage of his parents.

Gogol’s story is grounded in the marriage of his parents, Ashoke and Ashima , whose conception of love is founded in their shared past in India. Characterized by clearly defined gender roles and less openly displayed affection, but also a deep sense of…

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The Namesake Essay Topics & Writing Assignments

Essay Topic 1

The Ganguli family lifestyle is central to the story. Compare and contrast the Ganguli family's lifestyle to the lifestyle of the Ratliffs. Cite examples from the novel that show differences and explain how those differences are important to the story.

Essay Topic 2

The anger of second-generation immigrants who feel they are treated as second-class citizens is a theme in many novels. In this novel, the author uses the second-generation Indian immigrant Moushumi as an example of this anger. What happens in the novel that she sees as slights to her Indian heritage? How do these imagined slights affect her? How does her resulting anger affect her marriage to Gogol? Cite examples from the book to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

How is the marriage of Ashim and Ashoke Ganguli different from most American marriages? Cite examples to support your answer. Discuss some advantages or disadvantages of...

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The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

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The Namesake Essays

Tra(i)nsition: motifs of movement and transportation in 'the namesake' maddie culcasi 11th grade, the namesake.

The Ganguli family is constantly adapting to change in all of its forms. From moving to a new country, to marriage, to death-- they are always being forced to adjust to their new environments and circumstances no matter how strongly it may affect...

His Names’ Sake Anonymous College

The Namesake is a contemporary novel by the author Jhumpa Lahiri published in 2003. Bearing qualities of domestic fiction and bildungsroman, the novel serves as a conjunction of Bengali values, culture and people with the ‘melting pot’ of America...

Gogol's Search for Greater Understanding Anonymous College

Jhumpa Lahiri eloquently points out in her novel, The Namesake, “For his [Gogol’s] father had a point; the only person who didn’t take Gogol seriously, the only person who tormented him, the only person chronically aware of and afflicted by the...

The Apple and the Tree: Family Ties in The Namesake and Fences Josh Robles College

A man lives his life and evolves over time; he embodies a synthesis of all his experiences with those he meets over his lifetime. What he sees when he finally meets the son he helps bring into this world for the first time is unique to who he is...

Overcoat Symbolism in The Namesake Victor Joseph G. Malbarosa 12th Grade

Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake is a story that is parallel to Nikolai Gogol’s short story The Overcoat. Gogol’s work is commended and mentioned countless times by Lahiri in her writing. The Overcoat is about a man named Akaky Akakievich, who, at...

The Quest for Identity: Symbolic Intricacies Dakotah L. Gerlach 12th Grade

In the novel, The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri uses symbolism to explore the quest for identity, specifically through the protagonist: Gogol Ganguli. One of the first instances Lahiri uses symbolism to explore Gogol’s identity is when she writes about...

Setting and Adaptation in The Namesake Rhiannon Matson 11th Grade

In the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the main character, Gogol, is forced to adjust to many different environments as he ages; including Calcutta, the different apartments he occupied throughout college, and his ex-girlfriend Maxine’s...

Relationships, Marriage, and Complexity in The Namesake Maneesha Kaur Khalae 12th Grade

Within The Namesake , Lahiri presents the relationship between men and women as heavily shaped by their environment, heritage and socio-economic background. The relationship between the Ratliffs, Maxine’s parents, Gerald and Lydia, is directly...

Ashima's Estrangement Jhumpa Lahiri College

In The Namesake , Jhumpa Lahari explores the themes of identity, clash of culture, isolation, importance of names and family. Both of the Ganguli parents, especially Ashima, struggle with assimilating to this new culture that they are not...

Isolation and Identity in The Namesake Anonymous College

The Namesake explores the themes of isolation, identity, clash of cultures and the immigrant experience. Through the Ganguli family Lahiri looks at how the immigrant experience is different for the two generations of immigrants, Lahiri does this...

Love in The Namesake Madison Williams College

Throughout Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake , themes of marriage, love, and intimacy are carefully woven into the lives of the Ganguli family; namely Gogol and his parents. The novel begins with Ashima and Ashoke, Gogol’s parents, and the beginnings of...