What happens in Chapter 5 of the namesake?

Gogol decides to change his name, officially, to Nikhil, the summer before he heads to Yale. Although Ashima and Ashoke wonder why their son is so angered, all of a sudden, by the name Gogol, they let him do as he wishes. …

How is Gogol’s decision in Chapter 5 to officially change his name an attempt to make a new identity for himself?

His father agrees to allow him to change his name, signing the appropriate form, and Gogol goes before a judge to make the name change official. When the judge asks him why he wants to change his name, he says, “I hate the name Gogol.

What happens in chapter 6 of the namesake?

At a party hosted by a friend, Gogol meets a woman named Maxine Ratliff. He feels instantly attracted to her, and the two of them talk for much of the evening. Maxine calls the day after the party and invites Gogol, alone, to dinner later that week, at her parents’ apartment in Chelsea, where she lives.

How does Gogol feel about Ruth’s family?

Gogol is angered by his parents’ disapproval, pitying them for having never been young and in love as he is. That spring Ruth takes a semester abroad in Oxford, and he feels lost, longing for her as his parents once longed for their families.

Why did Gogol change his name?

“Gogol” makes Gogol feel like a child. Thus Gogol changes his name, officially, not to change how the world sees him, but to help change how he sees himself. He changes his name as part of a larger process of personal transformation and growth.

What are Gogol’s reasons for changing his name?

Gogol tells his parents that he is changing his name because he feels that the name Nikhil is more suitable to represent him in adult life.
Gogol’s real reason for changing his name is his own embarrassment and discomfort with his identity as Gogol.

Who is Max in The Namesake?

Gogol’s second significant girlfriend, a recent graduate from Barnard, where she studied art history. She lives with her parents in a beautiful apartment in New York.

Does Gogol regret changing name?

Gogol’s father, Ashoke, seems to help him the most. It’s only after his dad spills the story of Gogol’s name (the horrifying train accident that almost ended his life) that Gogol begins to regret the whole Nikhil thing. There you have it folks. The name itself is not what matters.

What class does Gogol not tell his parents he is taking?

Gogol does not tell his parents as they would consider the class frivolous.

Gogol asks for her number, almost in a daze, and after the holiday, the two start dating, kissing and making love after class, touring the campus’s museums together, and otherwise enjoying each other’s company. Gogol eventually tells his parents, after many months, that he is dating someone.

How does LitCharts work in the book The namesake?

LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Namesake, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Gogol has become convinced that he should change his name, as so many—immigrants, revolutionaries, actors, even Nikolai Gogol himself—have done before him.

What happens to Nikhil Gogol in the namesake?

At Yale, Gogol begins the process of transforming into Nikhil in others’ eyes. But there, Lahiri asserts, the taking-on of a new identity is not so much the province of a Bengali-American like Gogol, but of all late-adolescents. In other words, Gogol goes through, in college, what all American college-aged students go through.

Who are Maxine’s parents in the book The namesake?

Maxine’s parents, Gerald and Lydia, interact in a way that emphasizes to Gogol the difference between Bengali and American marriages: they openly kiss and cuddle, whereas Ashima and Ashoke never share intimate moments in public. The importance of name and identity is clear in Chapter 5 when Gogol changes his name legally to Nikhil.

What happens in Chapter 5 of the namesake? Gogol decides to change his name, officially, to Nikhil, the summer before he heads to Yale. Although Ashima and Ashoke wonder why their son is so angered, all of a sudden, by the name Gogol, they let him do as he wishes. … How is Gogol’s decision…