The Namesake: Study Guide
Chapter 1
1.) In what ways is the relationship between Ashima and Ashoke (both pre and post
marriage) different from the conventional American relationship? Does their
relationship seem like a good one? What type of advantages and disadvantages
might this type of marriage have when compared to a conventional American
marriages?
2.) What other differences appear between Bengali culture and American culture in
this chapter? What is your reaction to each of these differences?
3.) “But [Ashima] has gathered that Americans, in spite of their public declarations
of affection, in spite of their mini-skirts and bikinis, in spite of their hand-holding on
the street and lying on top of each other on the Cambridge Common, prefer their
privacy” (3).
How does the author construct this sentence to emphasize the irony of the American
desire for privacy? Do you think this observation is an accurate one?
4.) Both Ashima and Ashoke seem well-versed in English and European writers.
Why do you think that the author points this out?
Chapter 2
1.) Very soon after the baby is born, both Ashoke and Ashima consider how different
his childhood will be than their childhoods. How are their thoughts on this subject
different? Why do you think that the author shows them having such contrasting
perspectives?
2.) How are Bengali “good” names different from “pet” names? What does this dual
naming system suggest about the culture and the people who are shaped by it?
What is your opinion of this naming system?
3.) When Mr. Wilcox asks Ashima and Ashoke what backup names they had in mind
if they didn’t like the chosen one, the narrator writes that “it has never occurred to
them to question Ashima’s grandmother’s selection, to disregard an elder’s wishes
in such a way”(28).
How does this show a key difference in Indian and American cultures? What is your
reaction to this difference? Do you think one cultural view is superior to other?
Why or why not?
4.) Why is Ashima disappointed with her apartment? Where have her ideas of
American homes come from? What does she do instead of complaining about her
disappointment? Why do you think she chooses not to complain?
5.) Virtually all of Ashoke and Ashima’s friends also are immigrants from Calcutta.
Why do you think this is the case? Do you think it is necessary? Are they making a
mistake by not pursuing other types of friends? Why or why not?
6.) Why do you think that Ashima considers it “miraculous” when all of the things
she left on the train are returned to the lost-and-found? Why wouldn’t this type of
thing also regularly happen in India?
7.) Why do you think that Ashima decides to purposely leave the gifts meant for her
father on the train?
Chapter 3
1.) How does Ashima think that being a foreigner is akin to being pregnant for an
entire lifetime? Do you think this seems like an accurate comparison? Why or why
not?
2.) How does Mrs. Lapidus go against Ashima and Ashoke’s wishes? How does this
show a key contrast between Indian and American culture? Which culture do you
think is right in this case?
3.) How do Ashima and Ashoke resolve the name problem when their daughter is
born? Do you think this is the right decision on their part, or should they tried to
have stay true to their culture?
4.) What are other ways that Ashima and Ashoke begin to change as they spend
more time in America? In what ways do they become more like ‘average
Americans’? In what ways do they blend their Indian heritage with American
culture? What do you think of these changes?
5.) What is Gogol’s reactions to Bengali lessons? Do you think this reaction is typical
of the children of immigrant parents? Why or why not?
6.) What are some of the ways that Gogol and the other children of Bengali
immigrants different from their parents?
7.) Where does the name Ganguli actually come from? What is ironic about this?
8.) How are the Gangulis treated by ‘ordinary Americans’? In what ways are they
accepted, and in what ways are they maltreated? Overall, do you think this is an
accurate description of how immigrant families are treated in America?
Chapter 4
1.) What do you think causes Gogol to dislike his name and the author it derives
from so much? Do you think his feelings towards his name make sense, or are his
negative feelings childish? Why?
2.) What do you think the author means when she says that Ashoke and Ashima
became “less complicated versions of themselves” (81) upon returning to Calcutta?
3.) The narrator mentions that Gogol and Sonia’s American friends “ask them
nothing about where they’ve been” (88). Why wouldn’t these friends ask questions?
What does this imply about Americans? Do you think this implication is true?
4.) As an “American teenager” (93), how is Gogol different than his parents expect
him to be? In what ways do you imagine that Ashima and Ashole were different as
teenagers than Gogol was? How much of being “a teenager” do you think is cultural
and how much do you think is natural? Do you think that most immigrants from
other countries do not realize what their children are like as teenagers?
Chapter 5
1.) What reasons does Gogol’s father give for wanting his son to become an
engineer, a doctor, or a lawyer? Do you think these are good reasons? Do you think
it is fair for immigrant parents to try to steer their children towards certain
professions?
2.) Once Gogol has changed his name to Nikhil, he says that it is “easier to ignore his
parents, to tune out their concerns and pleas” (105). Why would this be the case?
3.) Why do you think that Gogol finds Ruth’s background so interesting but his own
so bland? Why do you think that Ruth finds his background interesting?
4.) Why do Gogol’s parents disapprove of his relationship with Ruth? Do you think
it is fair for the immigrant parents from other cultures to have certain expectations
for their children’s love lives and to make certain demands of their children? Why
or why not?
5.) Does the acronym ABCD accurately describe Gogol? Why or why not?
6.) Why does Nikhil have no ABCD friends at college? Is it fair of him to purposely
avoid other Indian students? Why or why not?
Chapter 6
1.) Why does Lydia’s question about Calcutta surprise Gogol? What does this imply
that most Americans think about India? Do you think this is actually how most
Americans imagine India?
2.) How is Maxine’s attitude towards being like her parents different from Gogol’s
attitude towards being like his parents? What is the reason for this difference? Do
you think that Gogol would want to be exactly like his parents even if they had never
pressured him? Why or why not?
3.) Why does Maxine think that Ashima and Ashoke’s relationship is “so
depressing”? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
4.) Gogol is “conscious of the fact that his immersion in Maxine’s family is a betrayal
of his own” and that this is because “Gerald and Lydia are secure in a way his
parents will never be” (141). What does this mean? Do you agree with Gogol’s
feeling that he is betraying his family? Why or why not?
5.) Why do you think that Gogol doesn’t tell Maxine that his parents will never eat
the things she buys for them? And why do you think his parents won’t eat such
things?
6.) Why does the author include the conversation between Gogol and Pamela? Why
do you think she puts this scene near the end of the chapter?
7.) Why does Gogol feel “free” at the end of the chapter? Do you think this freedom
is a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
Chapter 7
1.) How do the first lines of chapter 7 contrast with the opening lines of the novel?
What point do you think the author is trying to make?
2.) Why do you think that Ashima decides to make “her first American friends”
(162) at this point in her life?
3.) Why will Ashima never understand her children’s desire to “keep their distance”
from their parents? Do you think that Ashima would have had a different view on
this issue if she had stayed in India her entire life? Why or why not?
4.) What are some of the traditions that the Ganguli family follows in order to mourn
the loss of Ashoke? How do these traditions seem similar or different to
conventional American ways of coping with death?
5.) How does the death of Ashoke seem to affect Gogol’s attitude towards his family
and his culture? Why do you think it has this effect on Gogol? Do you think it will be
a permanent change? Why or why not?
Chapter 8
1.) Why do Maxine and Gogol break up? Do you think that Gogol is to blame for this
break up? Why or why not?
2.) Why do you think that Gogol’s mother wants him to patch things up with
Maxine? What do you think causes this change in Ashima?
3.) Considering that Gogol has spent most of his life trying to distance himself from
other Indians and from Bengali culture, why do you think he is so attracted to
Moushumi?
4.) Why did Moushumi detest the way her family treated the topic of marriage when
she was growing up? Do you think the pressures she faced about marriage were
worse than those that Gogol faced from his family? Why or why not?
5.) Why is French culture a “refuge” for Moushumi? Do you think this is a healthy
way for Moushumi to deal with her unhappiness over her Bengali and American
roots? Why or why not?
6.) What is Moushumi’s reaction to Graham’s criticisms of Bengali culture? Why do
you think she reacts this way? Do you think this reaction is a fair and reasonable
one? Why or why not?
Chapter 9
1.) How is Gogol’s and Moushumi’s wedding different from what they wanted?
Should they have fought their parents more to have it done as they wanted? Why do
you think the author chooses to depict their wedding this way?
2.) Why does Moushumi decide to keep her original last name? Do you think this is
a good choice on her part? Why do you think her relatives from India always end up
addressing their letters to her incorrectly?
3.) “Sometimes Gogol wonders whether he represents some sort of capitulation or
defeat” (229-230) for Moushumi. What does this mean? Why would he feel this
way? Do you think his worry has any truth to it? Why or why not?
4.) Considering that Gogol always strove to have a different type of life and a
different type of friends than his parents, why do you think he is so dissatisfied
during all the time he spends with Moushumi’s circle of intellectual and artistic
friends?
5.) What strains and cracks begin to appear in Gogol and Moushumi’s relationship?
Do you think these types of things are avoidable or inevitable?
Chapter 10
1.) Considering that Moushumi’s mother is an “intelligent woman,” why do you think
she never learned how to do so many fundamental things? How do you think that
this has affected the person that Moushumi has become?
2.) Before Moushumi started dating Gogol, her best friend, Astrid, remarked, “I just
don’t see you with some Indian guy.” Why do you think that Astrid makes this
comment? Do you think this is a discriminatory comment? Why or why not?
3.) Why does Moushumi begin to feel more distant from Gogol? Why did she find
dating him exciting at the start, but now finds it depressing to be married to him?
4.) Why do you think that Dimitri was such an important figure for Moushumi? Do
you think her feelings for him are mature or immature? Do you think that
Moushumi would have had an affair with someone else if she had not crossed paths
with Dimitri? Why or why not?
Chapter 11
1.) Why do you think that the author chooses to make Sonia’s boyfriend, Ben, halfJewish and half-Chinese?
Chapter 12
1.) In what ways has Ashima changed over her years in America and in the years
since her husband died? Why do you think the author shows us all of these
changes?
2.) What does Asima think about Sonia’s upcoming marriage to Ben? How does she
react to Gogol’s divorce from Moushumi? How do these reactions show a change in
Ashima’s thinking? Do you think this change is a positive one?
3.) What are Ashima’s feelings towards Ashoke? Do you think that most arranged
marriages work out this way?
4.) Do you think that Ashima’s decision to live for half of the year in India and half of
the year in America is the right one? Why or why not?
5.) Why do you think that the author decided to make marriage of Gogol and
Moushumi such an unhappy one that ended in a divorce? What message would the
book have been sending if their marriage was a wonderful one? What message is
the author sending by having the marriage between Ben and Sonia seem much more
hopeful?
6.) Reflecting in his relationship with Moushumi, Gogol thinks that “he can’t really
blame her. They had both acted on the same impulse, that was their mistake. They
had both sought comfort in each other, and in their shared world, perhaps for the
sake of novelty, or out of the fear that that world was slowly dying” (284).
What does Gogol mean when he says that their mistake was to try to seek comfort in
their “shared world” and that they feared “that that world was slowly dying”? Do
you think that Gogol was right that the marriage was a joint mistake, or is Moushumi
really the one who deserves the blame?
7.) In what ways has Gogol’s attitude towards his family and the extended Bengali
community shifted by the end of the book? Why do you think this change takes
place?
8.) Gogol muses that despite all his efforts, “it had not been possible to reinvent
himself fully, to break away from that mismatched name” (287).
What do you think Gogol means by this? Do you think he could have completely
“reinvented” himself and “broken away” if he really wanted to? Why or why not?
9.) What is Gogol doing at the very end of the novel? Why do you think the author
chooses to close the book this way?