Critical Analysis of the book - ENG 263 Contemporary literature of the United States

The novel 's protagonist , Gogol , has his own fair share of identity crises . Whereas his parents sought to come to terms with their Indian past while living in America , Gogol fought and rebelled that he may , to put it bluntly , erase it altogether . This is shown in his reluctance to give up the comforts of American living whenever they had to go to India for family visits in his youth , and also in his express disobedience of his father 's intent that he go to his father 's alma mater to take up a

br study of the sciences , opting instead to go to Yale to take up architecture . He disdains his name greatly , not only because he does not find the Russian author after which his father named him particularly worth idolizing or being named after , but also because his name makes socializing with his peers difficult and socially awkward . Predictably he goes on to change his name to Nikhil , a name symbolic of his emancipation from the past so glorified by his parents which he finds so foreign and alienating

This type of anomie , it seems , is typical of children born to immigrant parents : seeing that they possess physical traits , languages , and cultural nuances that differ from the natives of their host country (and possibly being ostracized and discriminated against because of these they seek out to eradicate all ties that link them to their foreign heritage and instead do everything they can in to fit in and belong . For Gogol , this translates to an outward disenchantment with and disdain for his name throughout his life , a rebellious streak against his parents , and a desire to pursue a course that is not associated with immigrants . Simply put , he wants to be emancipated from the rituals and traditions of a...