The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri analysis

The Namesake has been received greatly and applauded for its acuity, grace, and compassion in describing in detail the lives that were moved from India to America. In the novel, the author has made the attempts of enriching the themes that led her collection to be viewed as an international bestseller. Themes depicted in the novel include conflict between cultures, immigrant experience, conflicts of assimilation and tangled associations between generations. The novel is about the Ganguli family which has been moved from their traditional way of life in Calcutta into America. Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli live together in Cambridge following an arranged wedding. The relationship between Gogol and Moushimou has been presented as one which is influenced by their heritage, environment and socio-economic background.

Their relationship is portrayed as one that is doomed to fail due to the continued insecurities that are demonstrated by the two as they attempt to find their identities. It is clear that two will never be able to love each other since they are uncomfortable with each other. Analysis of Novel The issue of identity crisis seems to have played a major role in the poor end of the relationship between Gogol and Moushimou. Gogol seems to have internal conflicts regarding his identity. It is also a similar case in the modern world. Most marriages are short-lived as a result of either couples belonging to mixed races or having some hidden personal histories. The kind of relationship between Gogol and Moushimou is one whereby love is pursued as a way of finding stability.

In the modern world, people who seek for love as a way of escaping from their identity or even looking for stability seem to end up miserable. Their relationship reveals that it is highly important for two individuals to gather the courage to connect themselves to a world that has been formed in collaboration with their partners. This implies that they did not have a chance to court and therefore never had a liking for one another. Furthermore, the novel depicts Moushoumi as a promiscuous woman who engages in extramarital affairs with French men while the film differently shows that she had an affair with a man she had dated previously (Aguero). In the film, Gogol seems to have embraced an American worldview regarding love, dating, and marriage.

Also, the film fails to show how the two couples were struggling to accept each other. In the film, Moushoumi is seen to be responsible for the end of their marriage rather than as a result of their lack of acceptance of each other. Many married couples live together with the aim of seeking stability or trying to escape from their identity. It is evident that most non-natives marry natives of another country as a way of trying to escape from who they really are. However, films versions may fail to bring out the full character of an individual like the novels. With films, it may become difficult for the reader to identify the themes and relevance of the films. The concerns raised in both the film and novel may help a reader to relate to what happens in the society with the things being read in the novel or film.