Draft - Gogols Revelation Gogol Ganguli one of the main...

Gogol’s Revelation
Gogol Ganguli, one of the main characters in The Namesake , by Jhumpa Lahiri, struggles
throughout the book to find his true identity. While most people in this world find their identities
through activities such as volunteering and moving from one profession to another, Gogol’s
quest to find his identity is closely tied to his inability to accept his name. His given name,
Gogol, sounds unromantic, unofficial to him. He feels that with such a name, no one he
approaches will take him seriously. During the story, e changes his name, but still feels as if he is
not truly who he should be.
Gogol is named after Nikolai Gogol, a Russian author who was like a hero to his father,
Ashoke. Gogol is Indian/American, but the name Gogol, is “neither Indian nor American but of
all things, Russian” (76). It confused Gogol as to why his parents would name him after a
Russian author, even though his father has told him that he is a fan. Furthermore, he thinks that
the name “sounds ludicrous to his ears, lacking dignity or gravity” (76). Finally, he changes his
name to Nikhil, an idea that he thinks of when he is reading about second baptisms in a
magazine. When he asks his parents, however, they seem to disagree, but in the end his father
says that since in America, anything is possible, Gogol should be allowed to change his name.