Wu
William Mason High School
The Namesake Compare and Contrast Essay
Kelly Wu
AP English Literature
Mrs. Wilson
Thursday, September 24 ,2015
Prompt: 1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Academic Honesty Statement: I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.
Kelly Wu
Mrs. Wilson
AP English Literature
24 September 2015
The Namesake Compare and Contrast Essay
Movie versions of books have always been criticized for their differences from the original, differences that often come with a bad connotation. We read our books, imagine the fantastic situations within them, the way the characters look, the tiny details derived from the carefully selected words of the author. With movies though, months and years must be squeezed into a mere two hour frame, entire paragraphs filmed in seconds. This means a director must pick and choose exactly what is needed to get what they want across, and without extra subtext at that. The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, and the movie version, directed by Mira Nair, are the same story of Gogol who turns into Nikhil, his life, and his journey to identity; they do not get there, however, in the exact same way. Along this journey Gogol and Nikhil go through many social situations and in each of these situations Gogol’s true values are revealed by which culture he chooses to live by.
In the book version of Nikhil and Moushumi’s wedding, the ceremony is described. It offers details about the chairs, the walls, the lights, the people, and a pyre that “they are forbidden by the hotel management to light” (Lahiri 222). This pyre, though a small detail, was important enough to be mentioned in both the book and the movie. This example of this pyre shows a difference in American and Indian culture which Gogol struggles with throughout his life. The older guests at their wedding, so accustomed to their traditional marriage want to light the pyre in respect to their ancestors. In America though, lighting fires at weddings in not a common occurrence and they do not allow it, and wanting not to make a scene, the wedding complys. In the book, the pyre takes up about one sentence, but in the movie it has its own scene with a man rushing down the hallway trying to convince the management to give permission, a total of about four seconds. Why are they proportioned so differently? Lahiri mentions this detail so as to remind readers that although this ceremony parallels those in India, it is not quite the same, much like the mix of food that Ashima is concocting at the opening of the book. This sentence provides a great addition to the meaning of the work as a whole, showing Gogol’s identity struggle is not just his own. We see that, like the book also mentions, that Gogol, though he prefers a tamer, American-like affair, he is also okay with this extravagant Indian one, for it connects him to his past and his parents. Gogol, at this moment, shows his appreciation for both Indian and American values, a crucial marker in his life. The movie version, also depicts this struggle though it isn’t directly connected to Gogol. The pyre predicament gets the same message of conflicting cultures across but is a more prominent part of the movie. The director chose this to emphasize the resigned tone and the theme. Descriptions of chairs, walls, and lights are nice, but unneeded in a movie when they can be placed quietly in the background. What was more important was the message, the differences between Indian and American culture.
Another point worthy of comparison between the book and the movie is the way Gogol acts in both scenes. In the book, we are told Gogol’s thoughts. The way he would have prefered an Americanized wedding as well as how he felt in contrast to his parents’ wedding. The book tells us that as he is enjoying his own wedding, Gogol is “astonished by his parents’ courage” (Lahiri 222) in agreeing to an arranged marriage. This contributes to the work as a whole as it, again, enforces the theme of the cultural split. Gogol, set up with his wife by his mother, is in a situation somewhat like an arranged marriage, but not quite. The book is able to explore these nuances because it is able to include more specific thought processes, something hard to show in movies without dialogue, which in the movie scene there is not much of, except for the non-diegetic background noise. These nuances are not, however, completely ignored in the movie, just presented differently. Instead of hearing Gogol’s direct thoughts, we see a flashback. It is back to many years ago, the first time the Ashima and Ashoke met. This flashback makes us think about the differences between Ashima and Ashoke’s courtship in comparison to Gogol and Moushumi’s. This contributes to the work as a whole because it connects Ashima and Ashoke’s past, a story that does not lie within the time frame of Gogol’s to the now. Without explicitly stating Gogol’s thoughts, Mair is able to convey the same message. They both show the differences between Ashima and Ashoke, Indian and Americanized, old and new in completely different ways. ways that only each type of media can utilize.
The differences in types of media present authors, directors, artists, and more with limitations as to what they can and cannot do. Both the book and the movie of The Namesake, however, convey the same message of Gogol’s values in these scenes of social interactions in their own separate ways. From both of these versions we see the split Indian and American culture, the different events and social gatherings such as the wedding that combines them, and Gogol’s eventual realization that he needs both cultures and their values to understand himself and be free. These situations and values contribute to the themes of the story and meaning of the work as a whole just our values affect our lives as a whole.
Works Cited
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. New York: Mariner Books, 2003. Book.
The Namesake. Dir. Nira Mair. 2003.