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The Namesake Study Guide

by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake study guide contains a biography of Jhumpa Lahiri, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

The year is 1968, and Ashima Ganguli, a Bengali woman who has recently moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts with her new husband, is about to give birth. Her husband, Ashoke, accompanies her to the hospital in a taxi. In the waiting room of the hospital, Ashoke remembers how in 1961, as he was taking the train from Calcutta to Jamshedpur to visit his grandfather and collect the books he was to inherit from him, there was an accident and he had nearly died. On the train, he had been reading a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, a Russian author, when the locomotive engine and seven bogies derailed, causing Ashoke's car to be flung into a nearby field. Rescue workers found Ashoke because of the book page he clutched in his hand.

Their…

Read the full The Namesake Summary

• The Namesake Summary
• About The Namesake
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Quotes and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1 and 2
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 3 and 4
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 5 and 6
• Summary and Analysis of Chapter 7
• Summary and Analysis of Chapter 8
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 9 and 10
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 11 and 12
• The Film Adaptation
• Related Links on The Namesake
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• The Namesake: Major Themes
• The Namesake: Essays
• The Namesake: Questions
• The Namesake: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Jhumpa Lahiri: Biography