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.