Unsurprisingly, Gogol embraces American culture growing up.Īs he gets older, he truly believes that he is 100% American. ” The Ganguli family is not bound to either the United States or India. Friedman describes the Ganguli’s as “cosmopolites. Ashoke’s interest in travelling and learning about different cultures is what brought them to America in the first place. Ashima does not feel bound to stay in America, nor does she feel nostalgically driven to return to India…” (Friedman, 113) The Ganguli’s are well off for being immigrants, and Lahiri never mentions anything about the family struggling to get by financially. Rather than a story about immigrants moving to the United States to seek the “American Dream,” Lahiri puts emphasis on the struggle to find identity, mainly through the first-born son Gogol. Each of the family members go through individual struggles and triumphs, but it is made clear that the ups and downs the Ganguli’s experience are unlike most in typical immigrant novels. She really focuses on trying to explain the uniqueness of this particular Indian family living in America. 2 After reading this article multiple times, it seems to me that Friedman’s thesis is clear. Throughout the entire novel Lahiri sets precedents for this genre of literature. ” (Friedman, 112) Lahiri’s novel especially strays from traditional novels in that even the mother, Ashima, doesn’t seem to sway towards India as being her real home, even though she grew up there. She refers to cosmopolites as “members of a shifting network of global travelers whose nationalities are flexible. Friedman used the term “cosmopolites” many times in her article to describe the Ganguli family. Difficulties arise in terms of the main character named Gogol because he has split identities and fails to realize it until the end of the novel. Instead Lahiri tries to illustrate a struggle separate from seeking wealth, which is the struggle to discover one’s true identity. Friedman distinguishes “the Namesake” from most other novels of its kind.Īs opposed to stories about immigrants coming to the United States in search of financial freedom, Lahiri flips the switch and conveys a completely different aspect of migrating. This in depth article focuses on the inner personal struggle of an immigrant family to the United States with emphasis on Gogol Ganguli. Scholarly Article on “The Namesake” By Jhumpa Lahiri The article I chose is titled, “From Hybrids to Tourists: Children of Immigrants in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake,” written by Natalie Friedman.

Scholarly Article on The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Research Paper

Jhumpa lahiri's novel the namesake