Themes
What theme in “The Namesake” deals with the characters navigating between traditional Indian customs and American culture?
What is cultural identity?
This character is Gogol’s father, who significantly influences his understanding of identity.
Who is Ashoke Ganguli?
What literary device is used when Jhumpa Lahiri describes the recurring memories of Ashoke’s train accident that haunts him throughout his life?
What is flashback?
What does Gogol change his name too?
What is Nikhil?
“The Namesake” explores the experiences of immigrants from which country?
What is India?
This theme is shown in the following quote, “‘I thought Indians were supposed to be vegetarian,’ [Judy] whispers to Alan” (43).
What is expectations/cultural differences?
Ashima and Ashoke's baby boy were supposed to be formally named by who?
Who is his Ashima's grandmother?
In the novel, Gogol’s struggle with his name is described as “a kind of invisible hand that haunts him.” What literary device does this represent?
What is a metaphor?
Ashoke nearly dies in a train accident when he is twenty-two. At the time of the accident, he was reading a Russian short story called ____.
What is “The Overcoat”?
This author wrote The Namesake
Who is Jhumpa Lahiri?
What theme does Ashima’s interaction with food in the first chapter most strongly reveal?
What is displacement (feeling of not fitting in/belonging)?
Who does Gogol have an affair with?
Who is Bridget?
Lahiri writes about Ashima’s homesickness, stating, “Like a parent who cannot let go of his child’s hand, she will always feel the tug of the past.” Identify the literary device used.
What is a simile?
What does Gogol reach for during his rice ceremony which is supposed to predict his future?
What is nothing?
What was the name of the award Lahiri won for the Namesake?
What is the Pulitzer Prize?
This theme is shown in the following quote, “ In some ways the story made less sense each time he read it, the scenes he pictured so vividly, and absorbed so fully, growing more elusive and profound. Just as Akaky’s ghost haunted the final pages, so did it haunt a place deep in Ashoke’s soul, shedding light on all that was irrational, all that was inevitable about the world” (15).
What is ambiguity, death?
What significance does the character Dimitri have in “The Namesake”?
Who is Moushimi’s former lover with whom she has an affair, leading to the breakdown of her marriage with Gogol?
In “The Namesake,” Gogol changes his name to Nikhil to fit in better, but he finds that the new name causes him even more confusion and disconnection. What literary device is this an example of?
What is irony?
What does Sonia do at her rice ceremony?
What is trying to eat the dollar bill?
Which city in India are Ashoke and Ashima originally from in “The Namesake”?
What is Calcutta?
This quote represents what theme? “ The sight… reminds her of her indiscretion in her parent’s corridor. It is a moment that shocks her still, and that she prefers, in spite of all she tells him at night about the life they share, to keep to herself” (11).
What is Secrets, Silence?
Who was Gogol’s first serious girlfriend during his college years?
Who is Ruth?
What literary device is used when Ashoke references the story “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol, which is also the name he gives to his son?
What is allusion?
What led to the break-up of Moushumi's engagement with Graham?
What is her realization he didn't like her cultural heritage?
What other work did Jhumpa Lahiri win the Pulitzer Prize for?
What is “Interpreter of Maladies”?