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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section is Object of the Study. This section explains the focus of this study. The second section is
Approach of the Study. This section discusses the approaches being used in this study. The third section is Method of the Study. This section explains the steps in
analyzing the work.
A. Object of the Study
This study deals with literature and its subject matter is a novel entitled The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri. This novel was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 2003. It contains 291 pages and is divided into 12 chapters.
The Namesake tells about a Bengali family who immigrates to America.
Ashoke and Ashima move to America to reach Ashoke’s doctoral in engineering at MIT. They settle and raise family there. After some times, Ashima delivers a
baby in a hospital. Ashoke and Ashima have decided not to name their baby, yet, the one who will name the baby is Ashima’s grandmother. They will wait
Ashima’s grandmother’s letter containing the baby’s name. Moreover, India parents think that name can wait, so they do not need to name the baby as son as
the baby is born. Usually, they will give name when the child is six years old or seven years old. Unfortunately, there is a rule in America that a baby born must
have a name before checking out from the hospital because the hospital will make their son’s certificate. Because of the hospital officer’s coercion to name their
29 baby, Ashoke and Ashima force themselves to name their son. They cannot wait
for the grandmother’s letter anymore. To get a solution, the officer suggests Ashoke to name the baby with someone’s name he greatly admires. Then, Ashoke
chooses Gogol as the baby’s name. It is a part of an author he greatly admires, Nikolai Gogol. Nikolai Gogol is an author from Rusia. Ashoke loves Nikolai
Gogol’s work so much. From that moment on, their son has a name Gogol. However, Ashima and
Ashoke will replace his name until Gogol is registered to school. They make the name Gogol only as a pet name, not to be taken seriously, simply something to
put on the certificate for now to release the baby from hospital. There is no problem until when he is registered to kindergarten. When registering Gogol to a
kindergarten, Ashoke chooses and gives him a new name, Nikhil. Nikhil is a Bengali name that means “he, who is entire, encompassing all”. Yet, Gogol
unexpectedly refuses to be called and so afterwards he is still called Gogol. Briefly, this novel tells about Gogol’s struggle in identifying his unusual name. he
is an Indian, living in America, but he wonders his name is neither Indian name nor American name. In addition to telling about Gogol’s struggle, it also tells
about Ganguli’s culturally displaced especially for Gogol and his sister, Sonia.
B. Approach of the Study
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