The Namesake

In 1986, as he is about to start his studies at Yale University, Gogol decides to change his name officially to Nikhil. His parents disagree at first, but he leads them to believe that no one takes him seriously because of his name. While filling out the forms, Gogol realizes he does not really know why he hates his name so much, and he leaves that part of the form blank.

Arriving in New Haven, he feels free from his old name, although he has to change all his documentation, and as Nikhil, it becomes “easier to ignore his parents, to tune out their concerns and pleas” (123). Yet, he still does not feel connected to the new name and feels uncomfortable when his parents address him as Nikhil in public, even though he has asked them to.

Gogol feels at home at university and starts considering architecture as his major. During one ride home, he meets Ruth, who majors in English, and they begin dating. He visits her father and stepmother on a farm in Maine, but he never brings her home because his parents do not approve of his having a girlfriend at all and especially an American. The next year, Ruth goes to Oxford, UK for a semester, but she stays on for the summer. After her return, they realize they have both changed and they break up.

Gogol goes to a panel discussion about Indian novels in English and learns that people like him are called ABCD (American-born Confused/conflicted Deshi). Deshi is the word Indians use to talk about themselves, but Gogol feels like an American.

During the Thanksgiving season his junior year, Gogol travels to spend the holidays alone with his father, as Ashima and Sonia have gone to a wedding in India. Triggered by the delay of Gogol’s train because of a suicide, Ashoke decides to tell his son about the significance of Gogol’s name. Learning about the Indian train accident, Gogol struggles “to absorb the information, feeling awkward, oddly ashamed, at fault” (145), but his father tells him that Gogol’s name reminds him not of the accident but of everything that came after.

Gogol has graduated from the architecture program at Columbia and is working for a company that designs hotels and museums instead the private homes he prefers. He lives on his own for the first time in a tiny apartment in New York, and his parents still occasionally have to help him financially. At a party, he meets Maxine (Max), a self-possessed young woman who works as an assistant editor for a publisher of art books. She invites him for dinner to her house, which she shares with her parents, Gerald and Lydia Ratliff. The house is very large and idiosyncratic, and the difference between Max’s parents to his own amazes Gogol. They are carefree and relaxed, “opinionated about things his own parents are indifferent to” (156), and do not mind Gogol spending a lot of time there. They question Gogol about Calcutta in a way that shows their fascination with the place and not a dread of it.

Gogol falls in love with Max, her parents, her parents’ house, and their way of accepting life. All of it is a stark contrast to his parents’ lack of ease, open affection, and their constant worrying, and he feels like he is betraying his family by accepting Max’s. Soon, however, Gogol moves most of his stuff to Max’s, and he only occasionally visits his apartment.

Gerald and Lydia spend summers at their house in New Hampshire, and Gogol and Max decide to join them. However, Ashima persuades Gogol to visit his family with Max on their way there. Gogol is tense, as are his parents, but Maxine puts them at ease. She shows appreciation for Ashima’s cooking and Ashoke’s new grant that will allow him to spend nine months at another university in Cleveland, Ohio.

In New Hampshire, Gogol experiences a vacation he has never had before: relaxation, freedom, solitude, and enjoyment—“an unknown world to him” (180). He appreciates the way Max feels connected to the summer home. There, at 27, he celebrates his birthday without his parents for the first time.