English Literature 9695

'The Namesake' Opening

Q. How effective is the opening of 'The Namesake' by Jhumpa Lahiri?

Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel examines nuances involved with being caught between two cultures. Since she was a child growing up in America, while living with Indian parents who migrated to America like Ashoke and Ashima, she draws from her experiences of living among clashing cultures and presents the story of Indians living in American society in the form of 'The Namesake'. The opening is effectively relatable for people with similar experiences, but for young readers reading it for the first time it is not too engaging.

The story opens up in an interesting way with many literary devices employed. Lahiri sets the opening in 1960s Cambridge and presents vividly contrasting images. We see Ashima, an Indian woman, alone in a small apartment. The stark contrast presented here is that of a Bengali woman on her own, while during this time period traditional Bengali families lived together. Lahiri presents a sound of sense by illustrating the taste and arms of the spices Ashima uses to make herself an Indian snack traditional taken by expecting women in India, but also points out that it doesn't taste quite the same. This represents her sense of homesickness and gives us an idea of one of the themes this novel may be reflecting, that is loneliness and isolation.

Lahiri presents the opening is a simple manner. We get important details through simple conversations and descriptions. She depicts it all in third person perspective. The narrator is omnipresent and so we get not only the gist of external events but also the inner thoughts of the characters. This draws the readers' attention and helps the story unfold right before their eyes as if the readers exist in the setting. The simple conversation between Ashoke and Ashima when they are in the hospital not only shows us their bond but also their isolation in American society. They talk in their native tongue, Bengali. Ashoke says he will come back and then leave. Talking in Bengali in front of Americans shows their intimate bond but the fact that he left shows us the difference between Ashima and Ashoke, and American couples where the husband usually stays with his wife. This can be seen again when Ashoke is set amidst expecting fathers waiting for their wives with flowers and wine bottles while he remains empty handed with a book to keep him company. This book as his only company foreshadows its significance later in the novel as well.

The greatest contrast is perhaps how Lahiri depicts life and death through flashback and thoughts of different characters. The story unfolds when Lahiri shows us a visual of Ashoke's thoughts as he is alone in his apartment. He thinks about the accident that almost kills him and the dead author that saves his life. It is ironic how much influence a dead character has on this story, since the miracle of Ashoke being saved in the train crash is all thanks to the flap of a page. Ashoke connects this miracle with that of his son being born and when the child's name has to be decided, Ashoke thinks of the book with so many connections to life and new beginnings, then decides to name the child Gogol based on Nikolai Gogol. Thus the child's namesake is a representation of life, death and miracles throughout the novel.

The opening presents many emotions and contrasts that do play a bit role is keeping the readers' attention but the way it began is not that intriguing. The opening probably catches the attention of many adults, especially mothers, or expecting mothers, or people who can relate to the feeling of alienation due to migration. It does not, on the other hand, catch the attention of young readers as the characters introduced are not exactly young, they do not offer relatable experiences like problems faced in high school or colleges, yet later on this is what the story focuses on when it revolved around Gogol.

Keeping the audience in mind, the opening is misleading for adults as well. One can easily suppose the couple about to have a child are the focus of the story but as one reads on he realises the story is actually about their child and his life as a young immigrant dealing with identity crisis amidst modern issues often faced by the young people of our world. In the end it might not be as appealing to adult readers as it would be to a younger audience.