The Namesake Discussion for the Final Graded Book Review

Book Review – The Namesake
Your Name
March 17, 2017
Your Institution of Affiliation
1. The characters of Lydia Ratliff and Ashima Ganguli very opposite from each other. Among the many examples, Ashima, Gogol’s mother, treats her husband and children with private and uncelebrated, intimate love (Lahiri, 2003; 6.51), while Lydia treats hers in a casual and intelligent way (Lahiri, 2003; 6.54).
2. Ruth, Maxine, and Moushumi are some of the women in the story whom Gogol fell in love with. Despite their differences in terms of culture, character, and origins, the most likely difference between these three is that they all represent the part of Gogol’s life and perspectives. For one, both Ruth and Maxine became Gogol’s partners because they represent the ‘sophistication’ that he is looking for, which is characteristic of American culture (Lahiri, 2003; 6.48). The culture that he desperately tried to embrace before his father’s death. Moushumi, on the other hand, was likened by Gogol when he started to realize that he wanted to embrace back his roots (Lahiri, 2003; 4.2).
3. Ashima and Moushumi are two of the main characters in the story, which shares a commonality with regards to their culture and preference. This commonality is exhibited by their Indian roots and their and “disliking” of American television (or at least some part of it in the case of Moushumi). However, the main difference between them is that Ashima is culturally conservative (Lahiri, 2003; 3.3) while Moushumi is not. This is because Ashima was lived most of her life in India, while Moushumi was born and raised in America.
4. Throughout the whole story, Ashima’s change of personality and perspective, with regards to her own roots is noticeable. During her first arrival at Cambridge, she was characterized as someone who was “culturally conservative” and “homesick” (Lahiri, 2003; 3.3). However, as she gets accustomed to the American life (and established friendly relationships with her American colleagues), her perspective changed and shifted. Thus making her think that Bengali culture as something that is “foreign” (Lahiri, 2003; 2.21)
5. After Ashoke’s death (and Gogol’s realization of his name’s origins), he changed in terms of his cultural perspectives and preferences. More specifically, this change is characterized by his want to “get in touch with his Beng...