Who? : A Timeline.

Pardon the name confusion within this post. Lol, bear with me.

Identity, quite arguably the most important theme in The Namesake. Two Bengalis, man and woman, travel to Cambridge, America from Calcutta, India. They have a son, born to them in America, of whom they name after a Russian author: Gogol. Which chops that up to a Bengali boy living in the U.S. with a Russian name and a traditional mother. He grew up in American public schools and every other Saturday attended Bengali heritage classes. His mother made friends with as many Bengali families in as many possible areas, which led them to constantly attend and host parties for their large circle. And Gogol grew up hating it, hating that he didn’t know who he was.

0-5 years old. Gogol thought nothing of his name. Like most kids that age, he found himself to be “normal,” capable of fitting in with the Bengali friends he’s made as a result of his parent’s parties as well as the American kids that attend his school. So, naturally, if none of his friends are concerned with their identities at this point in his life, should he be? Kids are known to be the most innocent, before nurture can overtake the nature of their personalities.

6-10 years old. Gogol wants to keep his pet name. His parents decided that his pet name will remain Gogol but they will change his Good Name to Nikhil. He’s enrolled at an American school, delaying his first day by a week to avoid leaving home and making his first major transition away from his mother, and when he goes in with his parents to meet his principal, he refuses to respond to his Good Name. His dad, in a coaxing manner, leans down and convinces “Gogol” that everything is going to be alright… While the principal writes down his pet name in the margin of her paperwork. After his parents leave the office, the choice is left up to Gogol: pet name or Good Name. And at this point in time, Gogol makes the decision that he wants to keep the familiarity of his home close in his mind and the sense of security within him through the enunciation of his five letter pet name. A decision that, as a kindergartener, seals his inescapable identity as Gogol Ganguli.

11-17 years old. Gogol is left confused by his name. It isn’t Indian, it isn’t American, it has nothing to do with him, his past, or what he sees in his future. So what if it’s his dad’s favorite author? It’s not his. He dreads the identity associated with his Russian-based namesake, most intensely noted when he wishes for anything except the lesson on Nikolai Gogol in his 11th grade high school English class. Gogol mentions feeling his entire face turn red and flushed with embarrassment, feeling like all of the kids in his class were staring at him. But, despite his anxiety, each time he looked around the room, none of his classmates gave him so much as a second glance. Was he hoping, somewhere deep inside himself, that his classmates would actually give him a reason to react? A reason to feel humiliated, to feel pained, some hardship he could bring home to his parents to make them feel guilty for ever having associated their American-born Indian son with a depressed Russian author? And, although he never received the dramatic staring, pointing, whispering, taunting, and bullying he was expecting, Gogol still played the scenario in his head a million times over, of what could’ve happened, what he thought should’ve happened, and grew to hate his name even more. His own mentality of how he pictured everyone else seeing him, though incorrect, caused him to isolate himself from more than a few friends, from girls to any degree, and from his family. He let his insecurities take over his identity.

18-25 years old. When he reached an age where he can legally sign US documents, Gogol changed his name. The name he wished he wasn’t given in kindergarten was the name he longed for in high school. Gogol connected a sense of confidence, luck, and strength to the name Nikhil, mostly due to the fact that a girl under the impression that he was Nikhil shared his first kiss at a college party, which drew him to like it so much. He went through college as Nikhil, a different and changed person, deeper than just his name. Nikhil was better equipped with making friendships and talking to girls. Two-thirds of his girlfriends dated Nikhil. But he was still confused with his identity. Does he get to choose the person he becomes? Or is it up to his parents? As Nikhil, he learned the true meaning of his pet name, Gogol. How his father believes he owes his life to Nikolai Gogol. And Nikhil better appreciates and connects himself to his pet name and his father’s intentions and even his mother’s beliefs as he understands the reason behind his namesake.

26-32 years old. Gogol connects with his name. After failed relationships with Americans Ruth and Maxine and Maxine’s inability to understand or comfort Gogol in the time his father passed away, Gogol reconnects himself to his old family friend Moushumi, only to begin to find security in the familiarity she brings. He feels free to open himself as Gogol or as Nikhil, aware that she now knows him as both, as either, and he enjoys how open he can be with her. However, it’s obvious from early on that Moushumi isn’t ready to be tied down, she isn’t ready to jump into eternity, whether she likes Gogol or not. She yearns to be abroad, to be her own person, to keep her own last name and to be with whoever she pleases. Where she also finds security in the heritage that she and Gogol share, she wants to escape it. And her steady disconnection with Gogol and her gradual cutting of ties with him starts the beginning of the end for her life with Gogol. The moment Moushumi starts to crave another man’s touch more than she craves her husband’s, she’s already too far gone. And Gogol is left alone, fatherless, his mother moving out of the country for half the year, his sister happily married, and he unmarried. A turn of events that leaves him, after feeling like he has figured out his identity and proven who he was, questioning everything once again. Leaving him cracking open his copy of Nikolai Gogol’s “The Overcoat” and finding out for himself who his father intended he be.