"The Namesake" Summarized and Analyzed

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