The Immigrant and the Dilemma of Identify: A Study of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Literature is the mirror of society that reflects the complexities of human life which arise from the constantly changing circumstances. The dilemma of identity is one such complexity that emanates from the immigrants as they step out of their familiar homeland to reach the unfamiliar overseas. This leads to compelling challenges of acclimatizing to the new cultural and psychological turmoil. Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake explores the traumatic grappling with the issue of identity and displacement encountered by the immigrants. Through the lives of the Ganguli family, the novelist vividly portrays Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli’s substantial efforts to preserve their cultural heritage and to deal with the multidimensional perspectives of identity faced by their children. This paper examines the immigrant experience of the characters and their efforts to root a sense of belongingness in a foreign land.