The Namesake: Chapter 8 Original Analysis by Carol Dandira Mini quiz about the book (you can add your own questions if you want to) • What’s the most significant Genre? • What tense does the book use? • Who is the Protagonist of the book? • Which is the climax of the book in your opinion? • What makes the book so amazing? Answers: • What’s the most significant Genre? Bildungsroman • What tense does the book use? Present tense • Who is the Protagonist of the book? Gogol Ganguli • Who is the antagonist of the book? Moushumi • Which is the climax of the book in your opinion? For me the climaxes are • The train accident • Ashoke’s death • Graham’s betrayal of Moushumi • Moushumi cheating on Gogol • What makes the book so amazing? In my humble opinion it’s the • Vivid descriptions • Foreshadowing and flashbacks • Symbolism • Themes • Etc you can add on Characters in this chapter Maxine Rattlif, Gogol Ganguli, Bridget, Ashima, Sonia Ganguli, Moushumi Mazoomdar, Graham, Rina Mashi, Shubir Mesho, the waiter at the Italian restaurant, Samrat, the cashier at the boutique store… that’s pretty much it. Lets have a summary with pictures and video clips where possible because why not? I made the summary myself so I don’t miss out on any event that took place in chapter 8! 1. Gogol stops paying attention to Maxine, focusing more on family and then they break up. 2. Gogol Visits the house used for his fathers funeral, where there is a framed picture of him on the wall, on weekends. Just pretend that that’s a picture of Ashoke. 3. Now Sonia does the cooking at home Because her mother does not have the mental stability to do everything by herself 4. Ashima is greatly pained by Ashoke’s death and loses weight 5. Gogol meets a married woman named Bridget who tries to seduce him but Gogol resists, feeling empathy for her husband who has to go through an untrustworthy person. They even made love at some point Ashima is worried about Gogol’s love life ever since Ashoke’s death and even wants him to get back with Maxine. Ashima reminds Gogol of Moushumi and wants them to start meeting Moushumi and Gogol meet at a bar in East Village. Moushumi wears seductive clothes. Moushumi is sorry for Gogol’s loss and asks about his mother. Gogol and Moushumi visit a French Restaurant. Gogol finds himself attracted to Moushumi and constantly thinks of her, even remembering moments from the past of her. On a cold, November day, Gogol takes Moushumi to an Italian restaurant. The waiter says they look alike. Moushumi notices that Gogol is cold and takes him to a boutique store, buying him a cap. Gogol attends his meeting and when he is done, he goes back to the boutique store and buys a feathery hat which he will give Moushumi for her birthday. Moushumi invites Gogol for dinner, where she is preparing coq au vin, Gogol helps out When Gogol removes Moushumi’s steamed glasses, he kisses her and they make love in the bedroom… They realize that the dish is burning and run to the kitchen, naked… .They find the coq au vin scorched. They end up just ordering Chinese food. They become extremely intimate within three months and Gogol now knows a LOT about Moushumi. Moushumi talks about the memories she has of England and the safety measures she took in America She mentions the fact that her parents wanted her to become a chemist though she didn’t want to. She also mentions that’s when she moved to Paris, she fell in love with older, European men. Moushumi further mentions that she fell in love with a rich American man named Graham, who agreed to get married to Moushumi the Indian way. The ceremony took place and then weeks before the actual wedding, Graham starts complaining in front of friends about the Calcutta way of marriage and on their way back home, Moushumi asks him why he did this. She gets angry and throws the diamond ring onto the ground. Graham slaps her in front on pedestrians. They break up. Moushumi also tells Gogol that she attempted suicide by taking half a bottle of pills. She was admitted to hospital and was later given therapy. Now in America, she lived with a couple. She made enough money to live on her own. One day her mother asked if she knew who Gogol was. Quotes I think are relevant… Let me introduce you to the ‘PEACE’ method of answering literature questions… Point – eg Lahiri makes the book emotional by doing this this this… Evidence – quote to support this Analysis – analyse the quote to show how is achieves what the question wants Comment – give your opinion on why it worked to achieve an emotive tone Evaluation – explain why this quote is important…. (I like this approach because it covers all the assessment objectives that are written in the syllabus, which are: AO1 Show detailed knowledge of the content of literary texts in the three main forms (drama, poetry and prose), supported by reference to the text. AO2 Understand the meanings of literary texts and their contexts, and explore texts beyond surface meanings to show deeper awareness of ideas and attitudes. AO3 Recognise and appreciate ways in which writers use language, structure and form to create and shape meanings and effects. AO4 Communicate a sensitive and informed personal response to literary texts 1. ‘The permanent absence of his father’ page 188, line 4 ‘the permanent absence of his father,’ led to a change in Gogol as he only now realizes the significance of family and culture. This is shown by how he now needs to ‘speak to his mother and Sonia every evening.’ The reader feels great empathy for Gogol as now he can no longer appreciate him while he is alive and ends up missing him and remembering him in everyday things that he does that remind him of Ashoke. The significance of his fathers death is even shown in how it led to the end of his relationship with Maxine and he ‘stepped out of Maxine’s life for good,’ ‘a few months after his father’s death.’ ‘his father’s birthday, a day they never celebrated when his father was alive’ ‘glancing at his father’s smiling face’ ‘Their mother has become thinner, her hair gray.’ ‘time when his father was still alive’ ‘Bridget excuses herself to go to the bathroom and when she emerges, her wedding ring is absent from her finger.’ ‘in the past she broached the topic defensively, but now she is hopeful, quietly concerned’ ‘the fact that he is single doesn’t worry him, and yet he is conscious of the degree to which it troubles his mother.’ ‘Opaque black tights cover her calves’ Moushumi wears seductive clothes on their first date. The ‘opaque black tights’ that ‘cover her calves’ are an example. This makes Gogol easily fall for her as she is made even more attractive by her clothing and additionally having attractive facial features such as the ‘straight brows.’ This proves to be important as we find Gogol constantly thinking of her and ‘wonder what it might be like to kiss her on the mouth.’ ‘The book has a plain ivory cover, a title written in French’ The ‘plain ivory cover,’ of the book symbolizes the peace and quiet in the room and the fact that it’s ‘written in French’ is significant as French is the language of love, which is the current atmosphere. The attention to detail done by Lahiri here is INSANEEE!!! – just amazing because she makes the whole reunion feel both awkward and romantic. ‘Her teeth are crowded together, not entirely straight’ Teeth symbolize identity (I realized that detectives use something called forensic odontology to identify victims, but that’s not important, all you need to know is that Lahiri uses vivid descriptions of teeth for identity). The way Lahiri vividly describes Moushumi’s teeth as ‘crowded together, not entirely straight’ is a way of showing us her uniqueness. The fact that her teeth are also not straight shows us that despite her beauty she is not entirely perfect. But Moushumi is not the only one whose teeth are vividly described, also Kim as she is ‘revealing two front teeth that are slightly overlapping.’ Teeth descriptions of Gogol’s lovers are similar- maybe they have sexual connotations or um… Hear me out. Maybe he has a tooth fetish but that’s just me. “So, should we make out parents happy and see each other again?” ‘lost in his thoughts, thinking of Moushumi.’ ‘The silence and intimacy of the room disconcerts him.’ ‘envies her students suddenly, seeing her without fail three times a week,’ “She is your sister, signore?” ‘Hunts for her in the photo albums’ ‘And then he leans forward and kisses her.’ ‘He looks down at her face. “You’re beautiful.”’ ‘He learns that she sleeps, always, with her left legs straight…’ ‘she has impulsively asked him to marry her,’ (Graham) ‘She swallowed half a bottle of pills.’ Let’s look at character analysis’, solely based on chapter 8… ONLY Maxine Maxine is inconsiderate of Gogol’s current situation and wants Gogol for herself. She ‘felt jealous of,’ Gogol’s ‘mother and sister.’ She does not care about Gogol’s pain, but is more concerned about their relationship. She moves on quickly after their breakup and is already engaged to another man. Gogol Shown as slightly agoraphobic as he finds himself being nervous in open places eg when ‘the crowd bothers him even more.’ He also falls in love easily as he makes love with Bridget whom he has just met, despite her being married. He even falls in love with Moushumi upon first meeting her at the bar. (use quotes to support your argument btw). Gogol misses his father as many things now remind him of him, as he is ‘reminded of being a student, of a time when his father was still alive.’ He also has a sharp memory as he remembers events from the past of Moushumi such as the Christmas party, when she was forced to play jingle bells by her mother. Ashima She eventually copes with her husbands death though initially it had been difficult as she has ‘become thinner.’ She has ‘bare wrists’ (I’ll just ask the Indians why this pains Gogol). She is ‘unable to sleep,’ probably just thinking of Ashoke and ‘watching television without sound.’ She wants Gogol to get married. Moushumi You may know her as that bookworm from Chapter four that said, ‘I detest American television.’ Well she is back in Chapter eight as this beautiful woman with a ‘slender face, pleasingly feline features, spare, straight eyebrows.’ She is in love with Gogol too. Moushumi also reveals that she once fell into depression because of a man named Graham. Graham A cruel, rich, American man. He breaks Ashima’s heart and ‘struck her on the face.’ Waiter at the Italian restaurant. Quite fastidious as he notices their resemblance. A bit talkative as he doesn’t hesitate to just point out their similarities. He makes Gogol feel uneasy, that their relationship is immoral. Cashier at the boutique store. Ambitious about her job and goes out of her way to make Gogol buy the brown, velvet feather hat. She even complements Moushumi when she wears the hat. Now themes Melancholy Love Heartbreak Anxiety Betrayal I’ll explain the rest off presentation, got typing is tiresome per say.
