kindergarten, Gogol refuses to be called as Nikhil, a name that his father has chosen, which sounds similar with the first name of Nikolai Gogol. Nikhil is a
Bengali name which means “he who is entire, encompassing all”. Then, from the kindergarten he is still called as Gogol. Briefly, this novel tells about Gogol’s
struggle in identifying his unusual name. He is an Indian, he lives in America, but then why his name is neither India name nor America name. Besides telling about
Gogol’s struggle in identifying his unusual name, it also tells about Ganguli’s culturally displaced especially for Gogol and his sister Sonia.
In this thesis, the identity crisis that Gogol experiences will be discussed. This topic also happens in our social life. Some people experience as what Gogol
experience. Therefore, the writer thinks that The Namesake is interesting to analyze. Besides, it shows how Ganguli family especially for Gogol fights and
struggle living in America which is totally different from their culture.
B. Problem Formulation
The problem formulations of this study are as follows: 1.
What identity crisis does Gogol experience in America? 2.
How does he overcome his identity crisis? 3.
What are his motivations in overcoming his identity crisis?
C. Objectives of the study
This study has three main objectives. The first objective reveals what identity crisis Gogol experiences in America. The second objective reveals how
Gogol overcomes his identity crisis. The last objective aims to know Gogol’s motivation in overcoming his identity crisis.
D. Benefits of the study
This study is expected to give some contributions to many people. Firstly, for people who become the citizens of the world. Hopefully, this study can give
insights to face problem in being different among others and they admit their identity from their origin. Secondly, for English Education students who read this
study can broaden their knowledge of what should they do and act if they face such different culture or see people from different culture. For students who are
also interested to discuss the same novel, can use this study as the reference to be compared.
E. Definition of terms
This part is presented to define the used in this thesis to avoid
misunderstanding. Those terms are identity, crisis, and motivation. Identity,
according to Webster New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged, is a “the condition or fact of being the same in all qualities under consideration; sameness;
oneness.” b “the condition or fact of being some specific person or thing; individuality;” c “the condition of being the same as something or someone
assumed; described or claimed.” 902 Erikson defines identity as “sense of sameness between one’s meaning for
oneself and one’s meaning for others in the social world” 150. Meanwhile,
David Matsumoto and Linda Juang, identity refers to the social groups of which an individual sees himself or herself to be a part 341. In this study, identity
refers to Gogol’s condition or fact of being the same as someone assumed or described as an immigrant comes from India who lives in America
The next term is crisis. According to Erikson, crisis is a turning point, that
is a period when the potential for growth is high but when the person is also quite vulnerable. It is usually relatively long 303. In this study, crisis refers to a period
when Gogol gets into trouble struggling in his community with his unusual name and his culturally displaced.
The last term is motivation. John Jung states motivation refers to desires,
wishes, plans, goals, intents, impulses, and purposes. It also refers to the causes or reasons that underline a given behavior 4. In this study, motivation refers to
Gogol’s motivation in overcoming his identity crisis in America.
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
