Namesake

The film Namesake showed us what it was like for some of the South Asian Immigrants in America. One of the main themes of the movie and SAA literature is identity. “Asian-Indian Americans have been trying to define who they are in their adopted society” (Takaki 446). Throughout the movie we see Gogol struggling with his Identity. Growing up in America, Gogol and his sister face racism and are exposed to American culture. I think assimilation to American culture plays a huge factor in the Identity crisis Gogol faces. Gogol is ashamed of his name. He changes his name and doesn’t enjoy bringing it up. When Gogol’s wife tells her friends about his name change, he becomes very defensive about it. This shows that Gogol may not be so comfortable with his Indian American heritage.

This Identity crisis can also be seen by Ashima as she struggles with the idea of her kids growing up American. She says, “I want to go home. I don’t want to raise Gogol in this lonely country” (Namesake). She struggles must get used to being on her own. In India, it is very common for many people to be around at all times. In the literature Mrs. Sen’s it talks about Mrs. Sen could scream in India and have everyone in earshot coming down to help her. She feels that America is a very lonely place. This can be compared to Ashima’s experience in the movie.

Overall, the movie Namesake portrayed common themes we learned in this class. It showed how immigrants and their children take to America. It shows how immigrants and their children can have such a huge generational gap. It shows how culture can be lost through generations.