Caitlin Blair

The beginning of the film The Namesake does a very good job of pulling in its viewers right away. When young Ashoke is on the train to visit his Grandfather he meets a man and has a very short conversation with him. The adventure and wonder the man speaks of to Ashoke makes viewers wonder as well. What is really out there? What opportunities wait just outside of what you already know? Film watchers can see the expression of this wonder on Ashoke’s face as he contemplates what the man is saying and turns back to reading the book his Grandfather gave him. Ashoke simply tells the man that his Grandfather has always told him that that’s what books are for and that he can travel without moving an inch. Shortly after this opening scene the train that Ashoke was traveling on and he was the lone survivor of the crash. The crash would change his life forever and make him change his mind about the adventure and travel the old man on the train had spiked his interest with. He ended up moving the America, the land of opportunity. The crash scene is what really does it for the audience. It brings up the question of did Ashoke survive and where will he go from here.
Ashoke is the first protagonist that appears in this film. The questions start right away when the train crash occurs. Did he survive? What will he do with his life next? Will he accomplish all that he sets out to do? A big question I had also was how big of an impact will his Grandfather and the books he had been given have on the rest of his life now? Ashoke took the opportunity and moved to America and began his studies abroad and began building a life for himself. Next, when Ashoke returns home to Bengali, his parents arrange for him to meet a Bengali women, Ashima. This poses new questions for viewers. Will Ashoke and Ashima be married? Will Ashima move to America, away from her family, to be with Ashoke? The whole film itself is pretty dramatic and sets up the audience for a lot of wonder and question about what will happen next with the characters. Ashoke’s biggest desire becomes for his son, Gogol, to understand the reasoning behind his name and come to terms with their Bengali culture. Unfortunately Ashoke doesn’t get to see Gogol come full circle because he suddenly passed away when he left home to teach.
Gogol is the biggest and most influenced character throughout this entire story line. He cannot seem to find himself and figure out who he really is. He is caught between his family’s rich Bengali culture and the American culture he was raised around. Gogol’s main struggle growing up in American society is with his name. He didn’t understand why his parents would give him such a name, named after his grandfather and father’s favorite author. Kids in school made fun of him and came up with every imaginable nick name possible to make Gogol feel terrible. He longed to change his name began going by Nick instead. Gogol’s desire was to just fit in somewhere. His other big conflict was with girls. He was really into an American girl, Maxine, who he dated for a while and grew very fond of despite what his Bengali parents thought. Ashoke and Ashima wished for Gogol to marry a good Bengali girl and keep their strong culture moving forward. One afternoon, Ashoke finally told Gogol what happened that night the train crashed and why Gogol’s name was so influential to him. This is the first moment Gogol shows any sign of understanding or respect for the name he was given. It wasn’t until Gogol’s father passed away that he began to really connect back to Bengali traditions and take part in more of his family functions. He also took interest in finally reading the Gogol book his father had left for him. Gogol decided to reunite with Moushima, the Bengali girl his mother had tried to arrange him with as a teenager. They get married and he thinks he has finally found who he is meant to be until he finds out Moushima is having an affair. Poor Gogol just can’t seem to win. His conflicts seem never ending and he cannot seem to satisfy the desires he has.
There are plenty of scenes with trains and bridges throughout this film. They help tie together to Indian and American cultures that the Ganguli family are a part of. They respresent the dramatic journeys that all the main characters set out on and allow the audience to feel as if they are traveling right alongside of the characters. In the beginning when the first train that Ashoke is on crashes, the audience knew there was going to be something significant later on. It ties in with the conversation Ashoke has with Gogol about the influence of his name. The bridges and trains and maybe even the airport and airplane scenes can represent fear of the unknown as well. Several scenes, such as at the beginning when Ashima is leaving her homeland for the first time, she is unsure of where she is going but she knows she is about to embark on a wonderful knew journey with new opportunites.