Frankenstein, the novel without deadline

Even if you’ve never actually read Frankenstein, you’re likely familiar with the basic narrative

Mary Shelley’s contribution eventually became Frankenstein, a seminal science fiction novel that remains deeply relevant two centuries later. Today, I’m going to write a text with plenty to say about life and society.

1. Science isn’t everything

As an intellectual in the early 19th century, Mary Shelley couldn’t help but be influenced by the Enlightenment, a cultural movement that was characterized by the weight it placed on scientific enquiry, reason, and intellect. But, like her husband Percy Bysshe, she was also a Romantic, and believed in the importance of nature and emotion. The tussle between scientific progress and the "natural order of things" was something the two discussed at length with their friends, and that conflict takes center stage in Frankenstein. In the 18th and 19th centuries, science was considered the zenith of human endeavor, almost to the exclusion of all else. 

In the fictitious letter that bookends Frankenstein, arctic seafarer Robert Walton echoes this sentiment, writing, "One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought." Ironically, Victor Frankenstein would likely agree with Walton’s assessment. In chapter three, he vows, "I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." But, as his grisly fate ultimately proves, the pursuit of knowledge comes with risks. Though, at first, Victor considers his Creature a triumph, it quickly becomes his undoing, murdering Frankenstein’s brother William, and ultimately leading the scientist on a chase to the North Pole, where he dies of hypothermia. Today, we live in another exciting time for technology and science, with the fields of artificial intelligence and genetics pushing frontiers and breaking down barriers. Hilariously, genetically modified fruits and vegetables are often mockingly referred to as "Frankenstein foods" by anti-GMO activists who feel that altering the chemical formula of produce can reduce the nutritional value of food or, even worse, cause harmful side effects to consumers. And while we shouldn’t be afraid of making progress, Shelley reminds us to keep in mind the pitfalls that sometimes accompany scientific advancement.

2. Life and death aren’t things to be played with

Victor Frankenstein is moved to reanimate human tissue due, in part, to the loss of his mother. This was a pain Mary Shelley knew well, her own mother, pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, died of complications from childbirth shortly after she was born. Many have said that Shelley’s novel warns against playing with the natural cycle of life. Shelley was writing at a time when "galvanism" was beginning to be discredited."I collected bones from charnel houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame," says Victor Frankenstein.  "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world... I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in the process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption." 

The ability to be "capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter" is something we are now faced with when it comes to extending the lives of people who are in comas or vegetative states. Sam Parnia’s book, Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death, explores this fuzzy line, and hypothesizes that death is not a point, but a process. Others argue that just because we can play with this boundary, doesn’t mean that we should. In Frankenstein, Shelley doesn’t really argue that life begins or ends at a particular point, but instead makes a strong case for not messing with whatever nature has decided upon. Though Victor Frankenstein describes the death of his mother as an "irreparable evil," Shelley acknowledges that it’s part of the natural order of life, in other words, there always will be life and death.

3. Parents need to take responsibility for their children

In chapter 1, Victor describes his idyllic relationship with his parents. "I was their plaything and their idol, and something better—their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me." But later, as he grapples with his culpability for the Creature’s crimes, he implicitly blames his own upbringing, suggesting that, if he had only been encouraged to read different scientific texts in his youth, he may have chosen a different path.  In the end, though, Victor Frankenstein succumbs to overwhelming guilt for the actions of the Creature, realizing that the murder of his brother (for which a woman, Justine, is condemned by the courts) was the "result of his curiosity and lawless devices."

Growing up without a mother, and with a rather unconventional father, undoubtedly influenced Mary Shelley’s own views on parenting. Victor Frankenstein’s ultimate acceptance of responsibility recalls the words of the author’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote: "A right always includes a duty, and I think it may likewise fairly be inferred that they forfeit the right who do not fulfill the duty." A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

4. Intending to do good isn’t the same as doing good

Generally, we want to believe that people act with the best intentions. But, as the French monk Bernard of Clairvaux once wrote, "Hell is full of good wishes or desires." In 1797, Mary Shelley’s parents were staunch supporters of the French Revolution, hoping that the violent upheaval would lead to greater liberty for the French people. But while the end goal was a fair and just society, revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries were both ruthless, with the Jacobin Reign of Terror resulting in the murder of over 40,000 individuals. In the end, the virtuous liberal revolution became as bloody and base as the reign of the monarchy. Just a few years later, France remained in social and political turmoil. With that in mind, Frankenstein can be read as an allegory, not just for the Revolution, but as a warning against violence for political ends. 

More importantly, it’s impossible to separate individual intentions from the end result. "I murdered her. William, Justine, and Henry—they all died by my hands," says Frankenstein. True, Shelley’s protagonist didn't mean to kill anybody, but his actions still had lethal consequences.

5. Appearances, sadly, do matter

The Creature is treated viciously because he looks vicious, and acts out because he is cast out. If only he hadn’t been so hideous, his fate might have been different. Shelley creates characters whose outward beauty reflects their inner goodness, and ugly characters who are deadly, with their "yellow skin," "watery eyes," "shriveled complexion," and "straight black lips" deemed to be a reflection of their inner self. Everyone loves Victor’s fiancé Elizabeth, "the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasure." The Creature, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky, with even Frankenstein referring to him as “a wretch." In his travels, the Creature repulses nearly everyone he meets, like the old man in the hut, who “shrieked loudly, and ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly seemed capable.” 

Poor Creature..

Modern adaptations of Shelley’s novel have rendered Frankenstein’s monster even more grotesque, transforming him from a large human being whose "yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles" to a hideous beast with bolts through the neck and eyes of steel. This link between the Creature’s ugliness and inner evil reflect an uncomfortable truth—people constantly judge one another based on appearance.

Sure, we may tell our children that looks don’t matter. But the harsh reality is, they still do. Visual bias measurably impacts hiring and relationships in the workplace. For example, obesity has been linked to people (especially women) making less money, while a 2004 study at the University of Florida found that taller people earn more. Donning makeup also affects hiring and wages, with women who wear cosmetics earning significantly more than those who don’t. Studies also show that we tend to socialize with people who look similar to us. The good news is that the judgments we make are not innate, but learned. After he finds a small boy, William, sleeping, the monster becomes aware that "this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity."

In other words, looks aren’t the problem. If people hadn’t recoiled at the mere sight of the monster, would he have committed the atrocities that he did? It’s unlikely.

Of course, all of this is open to interpretation. Where one reader sees a story about human superficiality, another might interpret it as a metaphor for slavery, a religious parable, or something else altogether.

In the end, that’s probably why we’re still so fascinated with Mary Shelley’s gothic yarn all these years later. This tragic tale of an ambitious scientist and his regrettable Creature has so many possible meanings that it can’t help but be relevant in any age. 

This year, whether it’s your first of fifteenth read, consider spending some time with Frankenstein. This timeless novel still has quite a lot to teach us about the world we live in today.

Frankenstein Characters summary

Frankenstein can be boring,disgusting, difficult, hideous and most important confusing because of many vocabulary issues, literary elements and weird lenses, but all this stuff is the characters soul. Frankenstein is such a special novel because of the time that was wrote it, and even that, it was not as the top until Mary Shelley die. Frankenstein has 13 unique characters, which the main part of the story is developed by the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, but here is the interesting part, the protagonist, also is the main narrator of the novel. An interesting part of the novel is that the Frankenstein family adopt 2 little girls, Elizabeth Lavenza and Justine Moritz, the only difference between these 2 girls are their age, Elizabeth is 4-5 years younger than Victor, but afterwards this, The Frankenstein's are a wealthy Swiss family that suffered a really tragic destiny. 

Everything starts at Ingolstadt when Victor's passion for science increases exponentially. He falls into the hands of Waldman, a chemistry professor, who excites in him ambition and the desire to achieve fame and distinction in the field of natural philosophy. Thus begins the mania that will end in destroying Victor's life. Victor spends day and night in his laboratory. He develops a consuming interest in the life principle (that is, the force which imparts life to a human being). This interest develops into an unnatural obsession, and Victor undertakes to create a human being out of pieces of the dead. He haunts cemeteries and charnel houses. He tells no one of this work, and years pass without his visiting home. Finally, his work is completed: one night, the yellow eyes of the creature finally open to stare at Victor. When Victor beholds the monstrous form of his creation (who is of a gargantuan size and a grotesque ugliness), he is horror-stricken. He flees his laboratory and seeks solace in the night. When he returns to his rooms, the creature has disappeared. Until this point of the story, the characters have developed charisma, but after the Victor's leaving of the laboratory, the things start to hook up a little murky. 

Henry Clerval, Victor's boyhood friend, joins him at school, and the two begin to pursue the study of languages and poetry. Victor has no desire to ever return to the natural philosophy that once ruled his life. He feels ill whenever he thinks of the monster he created. Victor and Clerval spend every available moment together in study and play; two years pass. Then, a letter from Elizabeth arrives, bearing tragic news. Victor's younger brother, William, has been murdered in the countryside near the Frankenstein estate. 

To clarify, William is the Victor's youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The main reason of William's death is because the monster wanted to hurted Victor for abandoning him.  

On his way back to Geneva, Victor is seized by an unnamable fear. Upon arriving at his village, he staggers through the countryside in the middle of a lightning storm, wracked with grief at the loss of his brother. Suddenly, he sees a figure, far too colossal to be that of a man, illuminated in a flash of lightning: he instantly recognizes it as his grotesque creation. At that moment, he realizes that the monster is his brother's murderer.

Upon speaking to his family the next morning, Victor learns that Justine (his family's trusted maidservant and friend) has been accused of William's murder. William was wearing an antique locket at the time of his death; this bauble was found in Justine's dress the morning after the murder. Victor knows she has been framed, but cannot bring himself to say so: his tale will be dismissed as the ranting of a madman. The family refuses to believe that Justine is guilty. Elizabeth, especially, is heartbroken at the wrongful imprisonment of her cherished friend. Though Elizabeth speaks eloquently of Justine's goodness at her trial, she is found guilty and condemned to death. Justine gracefully accepts her fate. In the aftermath of the double tragedy, the Frankenstein family remains in a state of stupefied grief.

At this moment, the monster has developed his plan safe and sound. He had murdered Victor's brother and had directly smash the Frankenstein's heart with Justine's fate. Unfortunately, that was not the total plan that the monster had in mind.

The monster concludes his tale by denouncing Victor for his abandonment; he demands that Victor construct a female mate for him, so that he may no longer be so utterly alone. If Victor complies with this rather reasonable request, he promises to leave human society forever. Though he has a brief crisis of conscience, Victor agrees to the task in order to save his remaining loved ones.

In this part, the only pure wish that the monster beg to Victor is someone, but Victor will give him another reason to make miserable his life.

Victor is nearly halfway through the work of creation when he is suddenly seized by fear. Apprehensive that the creature and his mistress will spawn yet more monsters, and thus destroy humanity, he tears the new woman to bits before the monster's very eyes. The creature emits a tortured scream. He leaves Victor with a single, most ominous promise: that he shall be with him on his wedding night.Victor takes a small rowboat out into the center of a vast Scottish lake; there, he throws the new woman's tattered remains overboard. He falls into an exhausted sleep, and drifts for an entire day upon the open water. When he finally washes ashore, he is immediately seized and charged with murder. A bewildered Victor is taken into a dingy little room and shown the body of his beloved Henry, murdered at the creature's hands. This brings on a fever of delirium that lasts for months. His father comes to escort him home, and Victor is eventually cleared of all charges.

Yeah...., kind of harsh plan the monster have in mind, but wait, the worst part is coming up. I like to name it "The Blood Moon"

At home in Geneva, the family begins planning the marriage of Elizabeth and Victor. On their wedding night, Elizabeth is strangled to death in the conjugal bed. Upon hearing the news, Victor's father takes to his bed, where he promptly dies of grief.

Wow, now at this point there are just 2 characters of the 13 that we had in the beginning, but if we look deeper in the movie, we will see that the misfortune of the protagonist is not because of the monster. It is because of the miserliness of himself.

Having lost everyone he has ever loved, Victor determines to spend the rest of his life pursuing the creature. This is precisely what the creature himself wants: now, Frankenstein will be as wretched and bereft as he is. For some time, the creator pursued his creation; he had chased him as far as the Arctic Circle when Walton rescued him. Finally, he is no longer able to struggle against his illness, and dies peacefully in his sleep. At the moment of his death, the creature appears: he mourns all that he has done, but maintains that he could not have done otherwise, given the magnitude of his suffering. He then flees, vowing that he will build for himself a funeral pyre and throw his despised form upon the flames.

Summing all characters up, we can definitely conclude that Victor is the murder of his entire family, friend and even his wife. The monster here plays the victim role because it was created as a sample of life principle. On the other hand, Victor plays the mad scientist role, whose biggest creation turns into a killer machine because of his miserliness and desires of being a god. The other characters such as his father, Elizabeth, Henry, William and Justine are doomed because of Victor's desires, and as a matter of fact, they are the price that Victor paid to become a "real scientist".

 

Frankenstein personal experiences

Frankenstein

I choose Frankenstein for many reason. The first one is the background. Throughout the whole book, the panorama turns interesting because of the loneliness and spooky original masterpiece that the teenage author develop, but this was because of Lord Byron suggestion. Although this background was so void and empty, it is interesting how connects and hook up the reader with real situation that pitifully happens nowadays. That problem is how quick human nature is to assign bad motives to someone just because he's ugly. This problem was one of the cruelest personal experiences that I've ever had when I was a kid. That happened in the 6th school year. I was an annoying kid as everyone is in the childhood, and there was a boy that play the role of Victor Frankenstein. Every single day, he said to me that I was adopted because my biological parents saw me as a lifeless thing. The first days of this strong language were careless because of my personality, but the days were passing and the insults were bigger and bigger, until one day, he said that I was a failure abortion because my original mom could not kill me. I learned that day that people are focused on first impressions, and if the first impression is a threat, they will do whatever they are capable of to end it sooner.

The second reason was the amazing beauty in Mary Shelley's writing. Even though it is a fairly story, it respond to the beauty around us and how we appreciate what we are part of. This reminded me a personal experience that I had this year in Canada. When I arrived in Canada, I was so impressed with the bond between fauna, flora and people, how Canadian people live peacefully with other wild animals such as rabbits, squirrels, raven, seagulls, and even bears. how people did not destroy their habitats but live together without any major issue. Now, I see  why Victor's best buddy Henry is master of living the moment. That is because he saw the sight of what is beautiful in nature is totally different of what is beautiful between human beings. Nature's beauty will always interest the hearth, no matter how many times we see the same panorama, on the other hand Human beauty is inconsistent and volatile, making short shining periods and long dreadful pains. 

Finally, the last reason was the moral. Across the book, there are morals aplenty that shake us and make us evaluate our behaviour as people. The most important moral is given by the monster, making us think that plenty times in our lives we did not satisfy our desires because of the revenge. This moral is not important in our society because of the selfish syndrome, and I, learned the last year with an ex-girlfriend. After many fights, I broke with her and I was decided to destroyed her hopes because of the bad relationship that she gave me, in other words, I wanted to be better than her in all aspects, so I set off my "revenge journey". I listed myself in all the activities that the school had available, obviously, to stand out, so I was the class governor, I was in religion and social stuff, but my card under the sleeve was making my school champion again in basketball. I trained so hard and hustle my team at the limit to win the trophy and classify in national matches. After hard months of training, we did it but I feel that something was going in the wrong way, I felt void, like all the goals that I had achieved were for someone and not for myself. After we win the national matches and became again champions of basketball, I realized that all the achievements were for her and not for me, so I stopped making the star paper and start focused on myself. In that point, I realized that those goals were careless because they were not mine. I step back and I looked the panorama and I saw the opportunity to hustle me one more time, and I went for it. Now, that opportunity took shape and it is going to give me my second diploma of high school, so I learned the most important thing after my revenge journey. Revenge is not all it is cracked up to be, and is a waste of time. So, if you are going to start that journey, stop and think, Am I doing this for me or for proving something to someone?

 

The Namesake

Is it worth it to read ?....

Is it deserves the title "The New York Time Bestseller"?

We will find out here in this blog.

The novel opens up by introducing a pregnant Ashima Ganguli, and her husband Ashoke. Ashoke is an MIT Electrical Engineering Ph. a student while Ashima is a homemaker. Throughout a flashback that Ashima has, we come to know that they were both initially from Calcutta, India and they had an arranged marriage. During their first meeting in India before they get married, we realize that Ashima tries on Ashoke’s shoes. Back in The USA, we realize that Ashima is not accustomed to the American lifestyle because she struggles with the short gown which only goes down to her knees at the hospital. Ashoke is also nervous about his wife’s pregnancy. He also goes into a flashback about a train wreck back in Calcutta, which changed his life, which, to this day causes him to have a limp. We come to know that while he was on that train, he met a man named "Ghosh" who inspired Ashoke to study abroad. After the train wreck, however, Ashoke was severely injured for a long time, but eventually got better and made it to America. The quick decision made in this time could foreshadow larger decisions that might have to be made by Gogol in the future. After Gogol is brought home and settled in, we come to hear about the death of Ashima’s father, which Ashima’s brother doesn’t directly reveal to Ashima over the phone. In Chapter 3, Gogol is beginning kindergarten. Although his pet name is Gogol, his official name is "Nikhil". His dad forces him to be called Nikhil, but the teachers stick to Gogol. This allowed Gogol to realize that the name you have is a legacy that you’ll carry on even after your death. In Chapter 4 Gogol is a teenager and is growing up like a typical American teenager. The classes which he is taking in highschool reflect on his parent's high expectations, which is common amongst parents from South Asia. Although he isn’t aware of why his parents named him “Gogol” the traumatic life of the author made him upset. During the family’s visit to Calcutta, I noticed that Gogol felt "culturally trapped". Gogol and his sister were not as attached to their relatives as much as Ashima and Ashoke were. Finally, near the end of the chapter, his distance from females again shows his strict Indian culture at play. “Gogol does not date anyone in high school.” However, we come to know that he is still living like a typical American teenager when it stays that he’s used pot when he was with friends without his parent's knowledge. Coming from a South- Asian background similar to Gogol, I can say that although I was born here, I try my very hardest to keep the good morals and values which my culture teaches. My name is much longer and harder to pronounce than Gogol’s but, in all honesty, I can live with it. On the contrary, I am used to striving to get high marks like Gogol, due to the influence of my parents. “Assured by his grades and his apparent indifference to girls, his parents don’t suspect Gogol of being, in his fumbling was, an American teenager”.

Thoughts about the book

Throughout the whole book, I wake up many special feelings around the theme statement that this book shows up to me. Unfortunately, I didn't live those difficult and hard situations that Ashoke and Ashima go through, but at least a dark part of my life showed up when I was reading. The oppressive situation to leave your native home, the new culture that you need to get used to, the relationship problems that kiddos life, and of course the identity lost. On the other hand, not all changes are bad such as the name. It's hard to get used but at least it's good in a part, and when you realized it, you will be part of the new society that you came to it.

Chapters 5-7

Ashoke tells Gogol "What's done is done". Both of these responses lead Gogol to ask "I don't get it". To this point in the novel, I have struggled to understand the feelings Gogol has towards his pet name, why he resents it so much. After this statement, however, I feel as though I can relate to Gogol's name situation.


When Gogol said what he said, it made me realize that he wasn't truly upset his name was Gogol, but more at the lack of meaning the name possesses. I realized then that he simply hadn't been explained why he was named Gogol. I believe once Gogol truly takes the name for what it symbolizes, then he will begin to understand why he was named Gogol and begin to accept his name for what it is. As the novel continues to develop, you learn of Ruth, Gogol's first serious relationship.

The relationship lasts a while until around Thanksgiving of Gogol's senior year where you learn they have split up, mainly due to the distance between them. A small tragedy then ensues, a suicide occurs on the tracks of the very train Gogol is talking home to visit his family. Ashoke is waiting for Gogol at the railway station and Gogol apologizes for not being able to warn him. It is when Ashoke learns of this that he decides to tell Gogol why his name is Gogol.

Maxine appeared to be more like Gogol. Gogol notices the difference in public affection and how they serve their food. In Chapter 7, we hear the unfortunate news of Ashoke’s death after suffering chronic stomach trouble. Ashoke’s death really brings Gogol back to reality, realizing that he hasn’t had the chance to fully appreciate his father for everything that he has done for him throughout his lifetime. When Maxine asks Gogol to come to New Hampshire with her after Christmas to get Gogol’s mind off of his father, Gogol replies “I don’t want to get away” (182). Gogol is still mourning and wants to spend his time with his family after being away for so long. My father’s dad (my grandfather) passed away in Colombia the last year. My father and I felt devastated and heartbroken because we were the only ones that kept in touch all the time with him. Besides, my father felt as if he wasn’t given enough time to be with my grandfather. 

“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there” (Barbara Bush).

When Maxine asks Gogol to come to New Hampshire with her after Christmas to get Gogol’s mind off of his father, Gogol replies "I don’t want to get away". Gogol is still mourning and wants to spend his time with his family after being away for so long. Gogol starts to realize that his family should always come first. Ultimately, at the very end of Chapter 7, Gogol remembers moments of his life where he and his father connected on a mutual level.

Ashoke tells Gogol, "remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go". This particular quote has a very significant meaning behind it, as it signifies how hard Ashoke had to work to make a living in the United States as well as the struggle of raising a child. Moreover, this is one of the few moments in which Gogol shared a deep connection with his father. I feel that as Gogol grows older and learns more about his family, he wishes that he could have spent more time with them and was more open.

Just like Gogol, I tried to hide certain aspects of my life from my parents as a kid, but as I grew older, I realized that they will always have my back and support me in my decisions.

Chapters 8-12

Gogol and Maxine naturally broke things off. There was too much tension between Gogol and Maxine after Ashoke’s death which really took its toll on their relationship. Ashima reconnects Gogol to his old family friend, Moushumi. She was mentioned previously in the book as the girl his age who was always reading her book at Bengali parties (low-key, she reminds me of myself at that age). They meet at a bar, sharing familiarity in their past yet still meeting for the first time as strangers. This happened to me where I knew some people who went to the same high school as me, but I never talked to them because we had only one class that stayed together mostly every week so it was harder to speak with them. Later on, I faintly remember people but realize that we’re still technically strangers.

We learn about how Moushumi moved to Paris to start a new identity, much like how Gogol changed identities in university. The rest of her past was rather shocking and for good reason. She battles with a fear of her own identity as well. She even said herself that she was afraid that after marrying a Bengali that her parents introduced her to, she would revert back to her old, bookish self.

And they get married...

Who saw that coming? It all seems so perfect, doesn't it? Honestly, I think only one year of dating is much too soon - four to five years is good. Who knows if they can stay faithful to each other (Hint hint.)? Whatever the case, perfect relationships don’t exist and people are riddled with insecurities. Their relationship gets a little rocky when Gogol notices remnants from her past with Graham. He also feels envious that she knows Paris so well and he doesn’t know anything about her second identity there. Next, they visit her friends in Brooklyn. He senses that Moushumi feels unsatisfied with her life with him compared to what her friends have, and he also feels uncomfortable that they are a link between her and Graham. When she blurts out that Nikhil changed his name, he wishes that he never told her!

Ouch….
But I know how he feels and I would also be scared that she might blurt out other personal details like the story of his father’s accident. These conflicts foreshadow…
After Moushumi sees the resume of a man named Dimitri at her university, they met when she was a senior in high school and he was 27. She was an innocent girl who desired his affection when he showed interest in her. As a teenager, she was taking risks and lied to her mother about going to the protest in Washington. I feel like this was the beginning of her wanting to reinvent herself as the promiscuous girl in Paris.

Okay here was a “WOAH”

Moushumi meets with Dimitri and cheats on Nikhil. First two days a week, then three.

Taking a break from the dramatic unfaithfulness going on, we find out that Sonia gets engaged to a nice young man, Ben, who is half-Jewish and half-Chinese, cool! I could have predicted that Sonia would not be the one to follow the road most taken. Then, Ashima sells her house at Pemberton Road to spend half the year in Calcutta and the other half at her children’s and friends’ homes in America. I felt some real deep nostalgia. Wasn’t it just yesterday when she arrived in Boston for the first time? I still remember her raising baby Gogol and pushing his stroller to the grocery store for the first time. Now, the reason why I felt so emotional about this part of the book is that I picture my own mother doing this after she retires because our family dynamic is so similar…

Doing a 180, I felt like laughing at the part when Gogol learns about Moushumi’s affair with Dimitri, and it says “And for the first time in his life, another man’s name upset Gogol more than his own” (283). The reason I find this so comedic is that after going through a death, a marriage, and now finding out that his wife is unfaithful to him, the idea that he still feels like his name is upsetting is hilarious. This ended with a divorce and as second-generations, the idea of divorce is far more accepted being an American thing and all, then it was for their parents’ generation who believed in settling for less happiness than they want for the sake of staying in the marriage.

“In so many ways, his family’s life feels like a string of accidents, unforeseen, unintended, one incident begetting another. […] They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend” (286-7).

He understands how much he doesn’t want to be away from his mother by analyzing his past actions, saying that although he moved to New York, he could have never travelled to Paris like Moushumi, or to California as Sonia did, always staying a 3-4 hour train ride away from home. I can relate to this because the thought of being so far from my parents makes me feel very nervous. For instance, the double degree that I’m doing it.
He comes to the conclusion that his name Gogol may be gone forever, without the ties to his mother. “Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist”.

I think that the book will finally help Gogol to find his way in life and to salvage what is left. I like how this last section ends on a positive note, and its powerful ending makes me appreciate Gogol's tumultuous journey......So, Afterall, it was worth reading it, and it deserves the title of "The New York Times Bestsellers", and I would add I did enjoy it when I was read it.