"The Namesake" Summarized and Analyzed

By Teacher Forum

The story presents the Ganguli family as the representatives of the Indian immigrants. It covers thirty years of time period.

Ashoke and Ashima are husband and wife. They are originally from India. They name their son Gogol, after the name of the Great Russian author. It transpires that Ashoke had survived a very dangerous train accident several years before. He had been reading Gogol’s work just before that accident.

As a teenager, Gogol rejects his name because he finds it strange-sounding. In his college, he begins to use his public name Nikhil that becomes his permanent name.

Jhumpa Lahiri was born as Nilanjana Sudeshna, but her teacher in Rhode Island kindergarten began to call her ‘Jhumpa’ because it was easy to pronounce. The title of the novel “The Namesake” is highly relevant to the subject of the story.

"The Namesake" Summarized and Analyzed
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Thematic Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Dec 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310374968

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The Namesake Summarized and Analyzed

Copyright

The Namesake Summarized and Analyzed

Teacher Forum

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri was first published in 2003. She had originally written it as a novella and it was published in The New Yorker. However, after some time of its publication, she expanded the story and wrote a full length novel.

The story is based on the people who are caught in two conflicting cultures where they find highly noticeable religious, social, and ideological differences. The novel very skillfully explores emotional and cultural themes.

At the centre of the story are the first generation Indian immigrants in the United States. The story illustrates the issues which they and their children had to face there in a new country.

The story presents the Ganguli family as the representatives of the Indian immigrants. It covers thirty years of time period.

Ashoke and Ashima are husband and wife. They are originally from India. They name their son Gogol, after the name of the Great Russian author. It transpires that Ashoke had survived a very dangerous train accident several years before. He had been reading Gogol’s work just before that accident.

When Gogol is a teenager, he rejects his name because he finds it strange-sounding. In his college, he begins to use his public name Nikhil that becomes his permanent name.

Jhumpa Lahiri was born as Nilanjana Sudeshna, but her teacher in Rhode Island kindergarten began to call her ‘Jhumpa’ because it was easy to pronounce. The title of the novel The Namesake is highly relevant to the subject of the story.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The opening scene of the novel takes place in a hospital in Massachusetts. The year is 1968. Ashima Ganguli is a young bride; she is about to give birth to her first child.

Ashima’s husband, Ashoke, is the student of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ashima is new to America. She has to struggle with language. She faces several cultural barriers. However, she delivers her first child.

Is she had delivered her first child in Calcutta, she should not have been alone. She would have given birth to her child at home surrounded by her family members.

Ashima gives birth to a child, but