Ashima's Estrangement Jhumpa Lahiri College

In The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahari explores the themes of identity, clash of culture, isolation, importance of names and family. Both of the Ganguli parents, especially Ashima, struggle with assimilating to this new culture that they are not accustomed to. Lahiri looks closely at the contrasting experiences of first generation and second generation immigrants, Lahiri looks at the cultural gap between the two and all the problem that they face. By reading Lahiri's prose, we get an insight to Bengali culture through the customs, traditions and language that Ashima and Ashoke hold on to. Jhumpa Lahiri recalls that it was easiest for her father arriving in America. "In an office setting he was a part of another family structure, contributing to another purpose. My mother would go for days and days at home. The outside world was scarier to her for longer.”, which is similar to how she portrays Ashima and Ashoke’s experience. Through Ashima’s pain and struggle to build a new life in a different world, the theme of the immigrant experience and dislocation are made clear.

We are introduced to Ashima when she is “combining Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts and chopped red onion in a bowl”, and thus we find out that “Ashima has been...