Leonardo Silveira –ThursdayThe Namesake
The film makes a parallel of two generations of the same family. Two opposing
cultures and two different ways of life collide with each other. The Namesake is a family
drama, the story of a contemporary American family of Indian origin that migrated came
from India to the United States in order to experience a world of opportunities. There are
two crucial moments in the film that reflect these dramas; the first one is when Ashima
and Gogol put Ashoke’s shoes on and another one is when Gogol changes his name to
Nick.
Ashoke and Ashima married and moved to the United States, where they began
their new life together in a strange land with a different culture. The story of Ashoke and
Ashima takes other directions when they have their first child. Needing a name for this
child to put on the birth certificate, a requirement of U.S. law, Ashoke decides to give
the name of Gogol; this is a name that had an important meaning for Ashoke. But life is
not as easy for Gogol as his parents might wish. Being a first generation American
teenager, Gogol lived torn between the Indian roots of his parents and his search for his
own national identity. As Gogol tries to figure out his future within the American society,
he changes the name given by his parents, has a relationship with a wealthy American
girl, and goes to study architecture. However, trying to be faithful to the traditions of his
parents leads Gogol to have a cultural conflict with his parents.
The director uses the Ashoke’s shoes as a motif to illustrate and summarize for
the audience the difference between the cultures. For the Indians, this gesture has an
important meaning. When Ashima puts on the shoes of Ashoke, she saw her future
together with him. Gogol puts on his father’s shoes after his father death. Americans
often say “to get to know someone you must walk a mile in his shoes”. This means you
must really experience someone’s life to get to know them. Gogol had missed that
opportunity.
Another important and emblematic of the film is about the name Gogol. The clash
between the concept of naming in Indian culture and American culture is something
meaningful. In the Indian culture the name is chosen by an older family member, and is
often given when the child is already a few years old. On the other hand the concept of
identity as individual right is common in the western culture. One can make decisions,
including changing its original name if desired, as in the case of Gogol that choses to
change his name of childhood from Gogol to Nick because Nick is better accepted by
American society. He makes this name change twice never consulting with his parents
about what they would like.
The film uses the backdrop of the story of Gogol's family to portray the cultural
conflicts between different generations, but these conflicts are not exclusive for this
family. This story represents the many people who migrate and living the process of
cultural adaptation and the conflicts of interests between different generations. The
main theme of the film is the cultural mix and how it affects everyone differently, and
how each person interprets the new symbols and what the relation of these symbols are
to the lives of those who experience a new culture.