Research Resources

Introduction

The Namesake,  Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel, explores the life of Indian immigrants in the late 1960’s and their children. Gogol the first born son of immigrants named after the famous Russian author struggles to escape the Bengali immigrant world of his parents. His parents Ashoke and Ashima try to incorporate their Bengali traditions and values into their American life. The Namesake explores immigrant assimilation, generational differences and the struggle of first generation Americans to define a self in modern American culture.