Literature Analysis Questions

1. The Namesake is a novel about a Bengali couple who immigrate to New York. They must endure the many struggles involved with adapting to a completely different culture. They have a child named Gogol, and they all must balance their religious and social customs with the culture surrounding them in the United States.

2. The theme contained in The Namesake is " the difficulty of adaptaion." Gogol struggles throughout the novel with applying his Bengali background in the United States. He is forced to adapt to the fast-paced American lifestyle.

3.  The author has a calm, refined tone in the beginning of the novel. Once the perspective shifts to Gogol's view, then the tone becomes angry. Gogol expresses an angry tone because he is struggling to be an American and fit into society.  The following excerpts display this tone, they give reasoning for Gogol's anger.

#1: "But this isn't possible, Ashima and Ashoke think to themselves. This tradition doesn't exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother. This sign of respect in America and Europe, this symbol of heritage and lineage, would be ridiculed in India. Within Bengali families, individual names are sacred, inviolable. They are not meant to be inherited or shared."                        

#2:"You've never had a dog, have you?" Maxine says, observing him. "No."
#3: " Who taught you to speak english?"


4. personification- "The mornings became angry at them."
    irony- "it occurs to Ashoke that he and his son probably wear the same size shoe."    tone- "This pregnancy has become a burden on us all!"
   diction- "They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking  back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend. Things that should never have happened, that seemed out of place and wrong, these were what prevailed, what endured, in the end.”
    metaphor- “That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”
   tone-  "You've never had a dog, have you?" Maxine says, observing him. "No."