Thanksgiving with the family

So the Thanksgiving weekend is finally coming to a close. I find myself looking back on an eventful time shared with family in a small, one room cabin. Yes, my aunt and uncle thought that a stay in Oxford, Ohio’s Hueston Woods State Park would be a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving. So my parents and I drove six hours to the park on Wednesday morning. The lodge that we stayed in was nice; it resembled a basic hotel room. When my aunt, uncle and three cousins finally arrived we traveled to the other side of the park to visit my grandma and aunt in their cabin. We pulled up to a small seven by ten foot “cabin” and entered. Seeing as it rained the entire time we were there, this is the room that we spent three days in, just talking or watching T.V. So of course, tempers flared and all of the spectrums of our family were seen in this tiny room. And yet, as we sat around the round table in the dining room of the lodge, all of the previous arguments and issues seemed to disappear. We ate our Thanksgiving dinner in a fit of laughter, all because of the family sitting next to us. A group of elderly Scottish men and women sat to our right. One man talked the entire dinner, and we watched as one by one every person at their table passed out from hearing him talk. And the man continued to talk, without even noticing that he had single-handedly put his whole table into a temporary coma. Somehow at the end of our stay we all agreed to return in another two years. This moment reminded me of The Namesake for one reason. Basically, everyone has a crazy family, and everyone wants to escape them at some point. But the times that you are truly forced to be an active member of your family, whether that be at a Christmas party or in a one room cabin in the middle of the forest, these are the times that you truly begin to appreciate your family. 

This is basically the size of the one room cabin... cozy right?

Synopsis of the movie thus far

I have mixed feelings about the movie The Namesake thus far. While it has been largely entertaining, it does not follow the book at all. Though the scenes are in essence the same, they have been placed in a completely different order than they first appeared in the novel. This seems to really skew the perception of the novel, for I felt that the movie characterized Ashoke as a much more compassionate and emotional person than the book depicted. Also, I am very confused by Sonia’s ethnicity mix-up. I mean come on; the girl playing her is African American, not Indian. Why would they cast someone of the wrong ethnicity in a movie where her ethnicity is a major internal conflict? Then we get to Moushumi. That was quite an experience seeing her face for the first time. I’d like to quote Ms. Serensky here and say “I feel so bad for Gogol right now”. I mean let’s face it, what was the first thing everyone did when they saw her face? You screamed or laughed right? Maybe even both. So the casting choices continue to confuse me. And yet, I find myself greatly anticipating the rest of the movie. I am very curious to see how the director depicts the rest of the characters, and how Moushumi and Gogol appear when they are older.

Ups And Downs On The Road Of Life

In class the other day we discussed how negative events tend to hold a more prominent place in our memories than positive ones. Though I do not want to, I find that I have to agree with this. I can recall in great detail bad things that have happened to me i.e. the death of my grandfather or the loss of a friend. But, I find myself struggling more to remember positive things in great detail. This is not to say that I cannot remember anything positive ever happening to me. I just feel that I take these positive moments for granted and I do not reflect on them as much as negative ones. I find this rather odd; I mean personally, I want to think about positive things not the negative. So then why is it that these negative memories seem to occupy my mind? Is it possible that negative experiences have more of an effect on people than positive ones? I think that when people have a negative experience, they want to change it. So they go out of their way to make sure that they change something about themselves. I believe that this holds true in The Namesake as well. It seems that almost every major change in a character happens after something negative. For example, Gogol begins to spend more time with his family after the death of his father. Also, Ashima becomes more independent and begins to adapt to America after the death of Ashoke. So I think that it is safe to say that a negative experience can easily be used a motive to improve oneself, but what about a positive? I think that it is more than possible for a positive experience to drive an improvement, but I also think that it takes more will power. Now you don’t have quite as strong of a reason to change, things are already positive.

Reflection on characters

So far in the novel I find myself constantly unimpressed by the actions and reactions of Lahiri’s characters. Gogol frustrates me to no end, he has little to no personality, and so to compensate, he simply lives vicariously through the women he encounters. Gogol never stands up for himself or states his desires simply because he does not know what he wants in life. Moushumi only worsens Gogol’s timid nature. For Moushumi and Gogol completely foil each other in their personalities. Moushumi, a direct and ambitious woman, uses Gogol as she pleases. Instead of standing up for himself, Gogol readily follows Moushumi around no matter how miserable he feels. He seems to prefer living in misery with Moushumi than living alone, simply because he fears solitude. Moushumi’s affair with Dimitri disappointed me, but did not surprise me. I figured that something along the lines of an affair would occur; Lahiri foreshadowed the downfall of the relationship from the beginning. I find myself wanting Gogol to finally discover Moushumi’s affair; mostly because I want Gogol to end his relationship with Moushumi and finally stand up for himself, but also because I completely disagree with Moushumi’s actions.  Though Lahiri provides insight into Moushumi’s side of the relationship, I have hard time feeling sympathy for her given that she chose to marry Gogol. I understand her motive to a point, Gogol is almost a non-entity in their marriage, but I do not believe that justifies her actions. At this point, I see Moushumi revealing the affair on her own, due to her suspicious nature at home and from the guilt she tries to delude even from herself. I do not see Gogol trying to figure it out on his own.

Gogol and Moushumi

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s fictional novel the namesake, Lahiri portrays the ominous future of Gogol and Moushumi's marriage. The narrator notes that during the wedding, Gogol and Moushumi "barely [say] a word to each other" (223). Lahiri creates situational irony by stating that at their own wedding, Moushumi and Gogol never speak to each other. This foreshadows the instability of the relationship and implies that the marriage will not last. Even once Gogol marries Moushumi, she "is not Mrs. Ganguli" for she "kept her last name" (227). Though the act of retaining her maiden name does not doom the marriage, the attitude associated with the act does. Lahiri indirectly characterizes Moushumi as stubborn and self-centered by keeping her name without considering Gogol's opinion. This foreshadows the lack of compromise in the marriage to follow. Moushumi continues her self-centered way by revealing Gogol’s name change to a group of her friends in a flippant and joking matter (243). Gogol continues to cower away from communicating his feelings with Moushumi, thus Lahiri indirectly characterizes Gogol as weak for not voicing his needs as well as confused, for he does not seem to know exactly what he wants out of life. On the other hand, Moushumi completely disregards the intimacy and significance of Gogol’s name change and trades the anecdote carelessly for attention. Moushumi really annoys me at this point in the novel. Though Gogol still needs to step up to the plate and gain some self confidence, Moushumi’s self-centeredness only intensifies the problem. I believe that the relationship will end soon, and most of the fault will lie on Moushumi.