Sunday, March 23, 2014
Apples can fall VERY far from the tree
Hello, here comes yet another post about Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. Gogol, the antagonist that I've mentioned in previous posts, grew up in a very traditional Bengali household. His parents were very partial to their Bengali customs and enforced Bengali social rules in their household. These rules were very strict, especially when compared to the usual restrictions put on American teenagers. And since Gogol grows up under these strict rules yet sees his American friends have more leeway, revolt grows within him. Being contained under his parents rules led to Gogol's explosion of rebellious independent acts; changing his name, having sexual relationships, and doing drugs. So now the real question is, was Gogol pushed to the point of rebellion by his parents' strict discipline? If so, is discipline then counterintuitive?
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Hello friend Alfonso! Nice post! I get what you're trying to say but to answer your question I am going to say no. Discipline is necessary for a healthy upbringing and actually can teach quite a lot to an individual. While it is true discipline to an extreme can pressure an individual to attempt to break away, a lack of discipline can lead to an annoying, unruly, and self-centered individual (A lot like...R....). To me personally I think that the discipline and expectations of Gogol's parents are totally normal and they only want the best for his son and their customs. All these problems that arise from Gogol's behavior are not from the over-pressure from his parents, but from his thinking that his name is bad and holding him back and something he needs to escape from even though he had the chance. The was I see it Gogol is ruining his life and making a problem out of something that he could have fixed long ago himself and instead of actually doing anything he blames his parents and gets high.
ReplyDeleteAlfonso, first things first, i think you should make your posts a little longer because davids comment is longer than your blog post.. No offense... I also have to agree with you when you say that because of all of the strict obligation Gogol's parented have enforced on him, american culture does seem like a leeway and therefore acts as a exit from the stress of his family. But when you say that Gogol is ruining his life, think about yourself, if you were put in that situation would you not do something similar?
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