THE NAMESAKE: TRACING IDENTITY TRAPPED BETWEEN ORIENT AND OCCIDENT CULTURE

Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake is about self-awareness and discovery of one's identity between the orthodox tradition of the east and independent lifestyle of the west. The narration is rich with ethnical subtext and reference, laid out in a coherent and crystal clear manner, depicting the events of Gogol's life at an uninterrupted pace, over a period of about forty years. The novel depicts the life of Gogol Ganguli from birth until middle age, recording his battle to discover his own self as a secondgeneration immigrant. Gogol initially struggles with his unusual name and later with the traditions his parents assert on upholding.