I Have Faith

           I hope Gogol finds a woman, but I feel like with everyone he has tried to have a relationship with so far, he gets bored eventually and gives up. Either that, or he gives his attention to another problem. Examples are with Ruth, they were happy together, but when she left for her semester abroad, he started getting frustrated. When she wanted to go back, that was the last straw. He gave up on her and they started fighting, which caused them to break up. With Maxine, he was happy yet again. everything was smooth sailing and everything happened naturally, like they had with Ruth. At this point in to story, Gogol is at his most rebellious against his parents and doesn't talk to them or spend time with them unless he absolutely has to. When his father dies, all of that changes. He starts caring about his family again. He starts to spend time with them again. With this change he starts caring less about Maxine. He starts spending less time with her. Those relationships were made in the wake of Gogol's rebellion against his parents. This new relationship with Moushumi is different. It was made in a time when Gogol is not rebelling. This is why I think it may go differently. Gogol is no longer caring about avoiding his family and his heritage, so he has more room to care for Moushumi. As a result things may actually work out.

Rebellion

            Gogol is an extremely independent person. The idea of not having his own identity but rather an identity predetermined rules his decisions. It also consumes his life in a way where the need to find his own identity haunts him at every point, almost like a never-ending high school atmosphere. Because he is obsessed with his image throughout high school, it drives him to rebel against his parents. He starts to smoke weed, goes to college frat parties, has his first kiss, goes to the movies when he tells his parents otherwise, etc. These little rebellions have a snowball effect, and although they don't have an effect on his success (getting accepted to Yale is success in my book), it does have an effect on his family life. He begins to try avoiding his parents once on his own in college. He starts to ignore his Indian heritage, something that was always forced on him by his mother.

           Bit by bit, he starts to break off from the influences his parents have had on him. changing his name, picking architecture as his major, rather than engineering or getting a medical degree. He dates women seriously and even moves in with his second serious girlfriend, whom he loves because she is nothing like his family. All of these are examples of how he strives to make his own identity, rathere than letting his parents choose one for him. 

Homesick

                  The majority of what Ashima thinks has to do with her roots in India. the entire first two chapters of The Namesake consists of her opinions on the differences between America and India. Instead of trying to make the best of the situation, she desperately tries to hold on the values and traditions of her Indian culture. Granted, she has only been in the states for a year and a half, and i would imagine it does take some time to adjust from living in India to living in Boston, but even still she has to let go of some of what she is holding on to or else she may be in trouble. She is outstandingly homesick, despite having a new husband and now a baby to come home to every day. This homesickness may cause problems in Ashima and Ashoke's relationship, because Ashoke seems perfectly happy living in the US. Along with these problems, it may set them apart from other Americans, like when they waited days to receive a letter from Ashima's grandmother which contained their baby's name; in which time the nurses at the hospital observed that her diet consisted only of jello and ice cream, earning her the nickname jello-and-ice-cream-lady. Little things like this would continue to build up in a snowball effect the more she clung to her roots. She won't like the little things either, which will make her dislike living in America even more. The simple solution would to just let go.

           I think the different opinions on living in America will ultimately affect the newborn's upbringing, as Ashima is disappointed that Gogol is not surrounded by family, and Ashoke is content with the opportunities that living in America will give the child. Being pulled in two different directions would be bad for Gogol, causing him to be confused. As a result, not only will Ashima's homesickness be affecting her own life but also her child's.