Nikolai Gogol Essays

The Nose by Nikolai Gogol is a short story about making the strange ordinary. Written in 1836, The Nose follows Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov who wakes one day to find his nose missing and masquerading around St. Petersburg as a state counsellor. The characters’ reactions and dialogue, as well as the narrator’s representation, seem to make the strangeness of the story ordinary throughout, with direct statements from the narrator seeming to confirm this. The inherent strangeness of the plot is often

The Namesake a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, tells the story of a young boy who battles with himself, trying to figure out who he is culturally and in general. The boy’s name is Gogol or Nikhil Gunguli, he was born in Massachusetts, alought born in America his parents come from India. His parents come from India, as they are new to America, Ashima struggles through language and cultural barriers as well as her own fears as she delivers her first child alone. After he is born, his name is still un decided

after the Russian writer Nikolai which Gogol adds more vagueness to his already confused South Asian identity, hybridity, and state of in-between of the South Asian community brought to the fore. In Bengali culture, it is traditional to have two names, a “good” name, which appears on official documents, as well as a “pet” name used only by family and close friends, who is given by Ashima’s grandmother in India, gets lost in the postal void between America and India. Gogol is disordered because unlike

In "The Nose", Gogol satirizes society's obsession with rank, status, and appearance by emphasizing how Kovalyov is consistently in check with other people who have more power than him. Gogol shows Kovalyov's lacking self assurance within his position of his career by writing, "He was wearing a gold-embroidered uniform with a big stand-up collar and doeskin breeches; there was a sword at his side/ From his plumed hat one could infer that he held the rank of a state councilor" the text continues,

Throughout the story The Namesake, the protagonist Gogol Ganguli, or otherwise known at Nikhil, has a seriously tough time with finding his true identity. In the beginning of the story, the Ganguli’s give birth to their first child, an exciting moment that could only be celebrated by three of their Bengali friends, due to being living in America. Due to their being no telephone contact with their family in Calcutta, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli wait in the hospital for three extra days waiting

relationship between the experiences of children living in American mainstream culture vs. the family culture of a first generation Indian family. Lahiri used the internal conflict of the “namesake” of Gogol vs. Nikhil as the ultimate symbolism of the conflict between the two cultures for the main character Gogol. The significance of names and identity are the underlying force that dictates the decision making in Gogol’s life. His name is the chief cause of his alienation. In the Bengali culture, a “pet

“Not at all,” his father says eventually, one hand going in his ribs, a habitual gesture that has baffled Gogol until now. “You remind me of everything that followed.” Chapter 5, page 124. This quote occurs when Gogol is questioning why he was given his name. His father chose his name because of the stories and writings of Nikolai Gogol, it was because of a train accident that occurred before Gogol was born. The author showed Ashoke the new life he put into his son, so the memory of the crash became

An Examination of the Russian Upper Class Through the Lens of Gogol’s Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls is a satirical criticism of the early 19th century Russian character and mentality. In the novel, the reader follows the protagonist, Chichikov, who is attempting to purchase “dead souls” in order to achieve his dream of owning his own estate. However, the focus of the novel is not on the plot, which does not really exist in the traditional sense of a novel, but rather on Gogol’s depiction

male can share similarities. Although, Gogol Ganguli from the film the Namesake and Anthony Shadid from the memoir, The House of Stone share several similarities. Unfamiliar with the Indian culture, Gogol is challenged by both the mainstream America and Indian heritage. In comparison to Gogol, Shadid’s case deals with familiarizing himself into a Lebanese culture while trying to maintain an American identity. Both works are similar in that the protagonists, Gogol Ganguli and Anthony Shadid are faced

closing pages of The Namesake Gogol muses “Without people around him to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist.” (Lahiri 289) Taking this thought into account, to what extent is identity contingent upon the perceptions of others? While what Gogol believes may seem like a generalized subjective assumption, this is an opinion that is only specific to Gogol. To Gogol, a name makes an identity

Chuck Norris, a famous American artist, actor, film producer, and screenwriter has found “that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish” (Chuck Norris Quotes). This quote relates to the two poems, The Odyssey and “The Journey”, which discuss the difficulties of achieving a goal. In both poems, the main characters are faced with many obstacles

The importance of the title “Shiloh”, the short story by Bobbie Ann Mason, signals the story is all about Norma Jean and Leroy’s marriage falling apart after Leroy had an accident on his rig. Although he is almost fully recovered now, he is afraid to drive the rig again. That means that he is no longer the head of the household, and he begins to lose his identity as the provider. Truck drivers work long days and are normally always on the road only coming home for short periods of time. I think

Do you remember stories of the boogeyman from childhood? Well for the kids of Maycomb they have their own sort of boogeyman, he goes by the name of Boo Radley. Not only is he the source of nightmares for the kids of Maycomb, but a source of fascination for every reader. Boo Radley is the most interesting character so far because of all the folklore about him, his motivation for hiding out, and the children's fascination with him. “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks;

famous work “The Nose”. Both Gogol and Shalamov personalized an object and used the object to satirize the society. Although it seemed like both Gogol and Shalamov satirized the opposite different society (Tsar vs. Communists), they were actually ridiculed the same aspect of Russian ideology, the idea of progress. When talking about deeper implication, Gogal cared about the universal world, whereas Shalamov focused particularly on the society. In “the Nose”, Gogol described Kovalyov’s nose as

In the book Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have a rather odd relationship. There are multiple times during the novel that they show signs of their love for each other but it is somewhat hidden. Elizabeth also goes through many challenges such as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, family issues, and trust of Mr. Darcy. Even when their love seemed destroyed, they found their way back to each other. Throughout the book we notice the delayed relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr

come from Asia, he often tries to run away from his heritage . So, would Gogol be considered Asian American? During his adulthood, from his breakups to the death of his father, Gogol matures mentally. He begins to regret resenting his trip to Calcutta and changing his name. This foreshadows that Gogol will be more appreciative of his parents’ decisions and backgrounds, showing small signs of Gogol being Asian American. Gogol begins to embrace his Indian culture when he doesn 't get irked when

chapters 3 and 4 show how Gogol develops from a child attached to his family, in particular, his mother, to a teenager that often rejects his parents and their culture. This is most dramatically seen on his first day of Kindergarten, when he rejects his “good name”’ Nikhil, because he wants to be called the name his parents call him at home, and at the end of chapter 4 when he is so fed up with the name Gogol that he lies at the college party, telling Kim his name is Nikhil. Gogol changed a lot over the

I sat in my room reading the book “The Namesake” in the book the main character Gogol/Nikhil struggles with identity crisis. Throughout the book he is trying to live up to his parents’ expectations of him and not ruining his parents’ name in society. While doing all that, he forgets to follow his own dreams and be his ownself. However, during the last couple of chapters in the book he realizes who he really is, what his own beliefs and values are compared to his parents. I believe that literature

relationship. After marrying Nikhil and Mousumi start to act more as a unit rather than two parts of a unit. Their marriage is an important part in strengthen their relationship. In chapter 10 Mousumi has an affair with Demitri. I predict that when Gogol finds out about the affair, he will not forgive Mousumi. By deciding to have the affair Mousumi betrayed her husband and the vows they made. Another event that weakened their relationship is when Mousumi reveals

family living in the United States. The parents, Ashoke and Ashima, are Indian immigrants. The story follows the family over the course of thirty years, mainly focusing on their son, Gogol. Since he was eleven, Gogol felt insecure and hated his name. He never felt “at home” with his name or his identity in general. Gogol, an Indian boy growing up in America, sees different meanings of home all around him. He sees that his mother feels at home back in Calcutta while he feels lost there. In Calcutta,