New World – New Life

      

                   When Jack moved to his grandmother’s house, he began to notice how different the real world is compared to the 11 by 11 feet room that he was raised in for five whole years. Jack began questioning things that seems unique to him in this new world. I felt that Jack became much more independent and started accepting the new life that he has to carry in the real world after moving from his mother. This does not mean that he is better off without his mother, but it certainly does mean that having a bit of space from his mother has helped him to adapt the new life. “Come downstairs and see the spare room, why is it spare? That means we don’t use it” (Donoghue, 254).  When Jack used to live in the room they did not have any empty places. When his grandmother told him about the unused room in her house he began to notice how much space there is in the real world. Everyday Jack learned something new about life. “There’s too many rules to fit in my head, so we make a list with Dr. Clay’s extra-heavy golden pen” (274). In the real world, one will be seen as a good citizen only if they follow the proper rules that they are given. In the room, Jack was not expected to follow many rules simply because he did not see anyone else other than his mother and Old Nick. Although Jack had to face some difficult situations in the real world he was able to adapt and carry on with his new life.

 

                As I was reading the novel, I began to think about how difficult it must be for Jack to learn about everything in the new world. This is pretty similar to an immigrant’s life in a foreign country. I remember when I moved to Canada from Sri Lanka, I began to notice how different the life here is. During my new life in Canada, everyday was a whole new experience for me.  Just like Jack, I would question about most of the things that I find unique and different about the Canadian life compared to the Sri Lankan life I was so accustomed to. Although, as time passed, I was able to adapt to the Canadian culture. Why is it that people have such a hard time adapting to a new life with more changes and differences they are not used to?

 

                After leaving the clinic, Jack’s mother wanted to live an independent life.  What I don’t understand is that when she used to live in the room she would complain about how she misses her family in the real world. However, after she entered the real world she wanted space from her family. Not only her family, but she also wanted to keep some distance from her own son, Jack. “I can, most of the time, but it would be nice to have somewhere to go that’s just mine, sometimes “(304). After moving to an apartment she wanted to do her own separate things, she did not give much thought about Jack. I remember, when she used to live in the room she would do everything with Jack and all she cared about was his needs and his desires. It seems as though after coming back to the real world she wanted to be free from everyone.  I do not see this change in her as a positive way of moving on with life because if she continues to maintain such an identity she will break her relationship and close bond with jack. If that happens I feel that Jack will not be the same innocent boy as he is now. Do you think that Jack and his mother would be better off if they had never escaped from the room?

 

The Great Escape

    

        Almost every human being in this world has tried to escaping from something or someone.  For some people, escape is not an easy job as it requires intense planning, and faith. This idea very much applies to Jack and his mother. As I progressed through the novel, Room I noticed that Jack and his mother are planning to escape from the room so that they could enter the outside world. Although Jack is helping his mother with the escape by giving her small important ideas, we can see that his heart still belongs to the room. “Our Great Escape. Tonight: I didn’t know it’s tonight. I’m not ready. “Why is it tonight?” (Donoghue, 112) When Jack’s mother tells Jack that they will make their escape tonight, he becomes a little confused about it because although he knew that his mother wanted to escape from the room. However, he did not think it would be this soon. Since Jack admires and adores this room, he feels that they are escaping from the room hastily. Apart from Jack, almost every human being in this world has a hard time leaving behind things that they admire and feel very close to. Jack, who had spent his whole five years of life, isolated in a room sees the room as a significant meaning to his life. The 11 by 11 room was his world, and also where he grew up. Why do we humans become very attached to things? Can this be seen as a positive thing in our lives?

 

          No matter how good a plan can be sometimes there will be situations where it will not turn out the way it is supposed to turn out. For seven years Jack’s mother had tried numerous plans to get away from the isolated room that she and Jack were imprisoned in by Old Nick.  As soon as Jack turned five years her eagerness to escape from the room began to increase. She thought of many different plans, but after thinking about the consequences she and Jack might have to face she decided that those plans may not be the best.  She did not try giving up and soon later she finally came up with a plan which to her was brilliant, but for us readers it seems dangerous. This plan was separated in to part A and part B. In part A of the plan, she wanted to see Old Nick’s reaction if she tells him that Jack is really ill. “That was Plan A, it was worth a try. But like I figured, he was too scared.” (121) after testing plan part A on Old Nick, Jack’s mother noticed that he is not as tough as he appears to be. In fact he is scared that if he takes Jack to the doctor’s he will get caught for what he had done to both Jack and Jack’s mother. As for part B Jack’s mother told Jack to pretend like he is dead to Old Nick so when he takes him outside to bury him he can make his escape and inform the situation that both he and his mother are in to someone. “I mean you’ll be disguised as dead.” (123) although this plan seems like a great idea, if the plan fails then both Jack and Jack’s mother will be in some serious danger. As we find out at the end of chapter four in the novel that both Jack’s mother and Jack were able to successfully complete the plan. I feel that if anyone was in the same situation as Jack’s mother was in, they would have made a similar plan to escape. Although that one thing that scares me is that if that plan backfired, innocent Jack would have gotten hurt very badly. Thinking about that gives me goose bumps!

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF YOU WERE IN THE SAME SITUATION AS JACK’S MOTHER?

Isolated Lives

      As a reader I would have to say that the novel Room, by Emma Donoghue is by far one of the most thrilling novels I have read throughout my teenage years. What I find fascinating about this book, is that the story is based from a 5 year old boy’s perspective. As I was reading the first three chapters I was introduced to a mystery character named “Old Nick”. In the novel, we readers get to know the relationship behind Old Nick, Boy’s mother, and last but not least the boy, whose name is Jack. Jack’s birth place was the room. Although this room to his mother feels and seems like a prison, to him it’s his world. The isolated life in the room had made Jack become an individual who has a poor understanding about the normal outside life.  “TV snow’s white but real isn’t, that’s weird. “Why it doesn’t fall on us?” “Because it’s on the outside.” “In Outer Space? I wish it was inside so I can play with it.” (Donoghue, 8) Since Jack had never seen the outside world, he thinks that when his mother was talking about snow being fallen in the outside she is talking about the outer space. This shows how the boy does not have any basic knowledge about the normal world that is revolving around him. His mind is unable to go beyond the room and anything that is occurring outside the room is a question to him. So would Jack have a different perspective about the narrow if he had lived in the outside world?

 

     As a young girl it is hard for me to understand how strong of a woman Jack’s mother must be to handle every horrifying event that had happened to her life after being kidnapped by Old Nick. I do not understand why some men see women as their own property. Even though, both men and women have differences, it does not show that men are more powerful that women. Not only is this occurring in today’s world, but also for centuries over centuries men tried to dominate women. Some men consider women as weak subjects or objects that can be used to fulfill their sexual desires. “I think Old Nick put those marks on her neck”. (53) When the toy Jeep crashed into Old Nick he thought that Jack’s mother is trying to hurt him and because of that he hurt Jack’s mother. When people are suffering from guilt, anger, and suspiciousness they see everything negatively. Old Nick knows that Jack’s mother is not willingly staying with him so due to that his mind is always telling him that he will get hurt. Negative suspicious thoughts can lead someone to become angry and aggressive. Therefore, do you think that there will ever be a time where women will never have to live in fear of men? And do you think that there will be a day when men fear women? 

 

     Even though the new generation is protected by highly sophisticated technological devices, it does not mean that incidents of kidnapping and raping do not happen. As I was listening to CBC radio two weeks ago I got caught in this horrifying story about how three young women were kidnapped by three brothers in Cleveland and were kept as prisoners for ten whole years. Similar to Jack’s mother, one of the women that were kidnapped had given birth to a boy and when they were rescued the police had found that the boy is five years old. Just like Jack’s mother these women were strong enough to survive in a terrible environment. Some people in this world tries to commit suicide for smallest things in life, however women like them keeps on going because they believe that they will have a happy ending. Sometimes having that positive thought in mind will enable someone to pursue the happiness that they desire.

Culture differences

   

     As we all know, every country has their own cultural values. In the Namesake novel, we readers are introduced to both cultures in America as well as in Bangladesh. A perfect example of this ideology is to compare the lives between Ashima and Moushoumi. The author illustrates Ashima as a traditional Indian woman, who follows Indian cultural values in a western culture, opposite to that Moshoumi is a woman who carries is a Bengali heritage, but was born and raised in a western society. Although both women are Bengali, their lives are so much different from each other.  Both Ashima and Moushoumi were having a hard time adjusting to changes.  The first time Ashima had to sleep alone was the time when she was pregnant with Gogol, she had never slept alone in her life and somehow she felt very lonely with this new change in her life.  On the other hand, since Moushoumi was more of western styled woman, she liked being independent and isolated from everyone else. At the beginning of the novel, we get a little glimpse of the individual, Moshoumi.  On Gogol’s fourteenth birthday, Moshoumi who moved from England was invited, although she was the new kid she did try to make herself fit in with other brown children at the party and when Sonia asked whether she have seen princess Diana on the street Moushoumi replied back saying “I detest American television” (73), after Moushoumi wondered away from everyone else with a book in her hand.  Although both Ashima and Moushoumi had a hard time adjusting to the new culture and new society, at the end they somehow was able to change that a little.  Why is it that women have a hard time adjusting to new cultures? So does that mean men are more adapted and accepts new cultures?

     Although Moushumi had a Bengali heritage, all the things that she did and said was set according to the western culture she was raised in. It is really surprising to see how Moushumi who does not follow the Bengali culture has a family that is very cultural. Maybe it is because Moushumi lived among the western people. On the other hand, Ashima was a Bengali immigrant woman. Although she immigrated to live in a western society, her life style was set according to the Bengali culture. She tried her best to teach her children, Gogol and Sonia the culture that she was raised in, but no matter how hard she tried Gogol and Sonia did not show any interests inheriting her Bengali culture.  So did Ashima and Moshumi’s parents fail to teach their children the value of the Bengali culture? Or was it the society that Moushumi, Gogol, and Sonia lived in made them not show any interest toward their Bengali culture?

Name Change

   

    As I was reading Chapter 4 in The Namesake, I discovered that Gogol changed his name to Nikhil. At first I was angry about the fact that he changed his name. A name that meant so much to his father’s life, but then I began to realize that I myself in the past wanted to make the same decision as Gogol. As many of you might know, my name is Chathumi De Silva.  I am a Sri Lankan, with a Portuguese last name and I am pretty sure a lot of you are wondering how I got a Portuguese last name. About 5 years ago, I asked the same question to my parents and my dad simply said that it is a common last name among many Sri Lankans. Although that answer satisfied my parents, I myself wanted to know more and hence, I began asking many other Sri Lankans, with the same last name as me, the reason behind my Portuguese last name, and most of them gave the same answer as my dad. Just like Gogol, I was very furious about the fact that I have a last name that does not belong to my heritage.  Although many of the Sri Lankans had a similar answer as my dad, I did not give up questioning people. One day I was able to find the answer to my question. I found out that back in the 1500s Sri Lanka was colonized by the Portuguese. Some Sri Lankan women got married or had sexual relationships with these Portugal men and some of them adopted Portuguese last names. Even though when Gogol found the answer to why he was given a name that does not belong to his heritage, he was still not interested in keeping it. On the contrary to Gogol, I was very fascinated at the fact that I might have a Portuguese ancestor.  After finding out the answer to my question, I felt like a whole new person, and I started thinking very differently about myself.  I felt very special among other Sri Lankans with pure Sri Lankan last names. So, why it is that Gogol did not change his mind about his name after hearing the reason for it? Would he have reacted like me if Gogol was his last name?

   Names play a huge role among people’s lives, such as changing someone’s personality. Gogol believed that his name is what was keeping him apart from having a social life. He had always questioned why he has a name that does not represent him. Although he was not interested in associating himself in the Indian culture, he did not mind using an Indian name instead of Gogol. Due to that, he decided to change his name to Nikhil. That small change in his name made him become a whole new person. After the name change, Gogol, who was a laid back loser in high school, was able to make more friends, associate around girls, and last but not least he was able to become more independent. After changing his name to Nikhil, he believed that he will be able to find his true identity.  Although he enjoyed and adored his life as Nikhil, after his father’s death he did not want to be Nikhil again. Why do you think people have to face negative situations to understand who they really are?

Adapting to a new culture in a Foreign country

    Moving to a new country can be challenging for many immigrants, especially for Ashima Ganguli in The Namesake.  Among many characters in the Namesake, I as well can relate to Ashima’s life. Just like her, I too am an immigrant. It was hard for me to start a new life in Canada, because I was a kid who grew up with many relatives and family friends. Therefore, I felt that moving to Canada, away from my family will not able me to maintain a close relationship with them anymore. Before moving to America, Ashima did not understand what it is like to be lonely, as she was always surrounded by loving family and friends. She was amazingly shocked by how her life in America turned out to be the complete opposite to her old life in Calcutta. As a woman who had a free life back home, she was affected by the lonely life she encountered in America. Similar to Ashima, I also had to face many challenges when I moved to Canada. As I said before, I was a kid who grew up with many relatives, so when I moved to Canada, I too felt very lonely and isolated.  Unlike Ashima, I thankfully had my mom, dad and sister with me in Canada to distract myself from the majority of the loneliness. Although, even with some family in Canada, I never had the same experience as I did back at home. Both Ashima and I did not have a hard time making friends, and integrating into the society, but that does not mean we still did not feel lonely. So, even though there are many opportunities in the first world countries, why is it that we immigrants can never fulfill our loneliness? Also, why is it that we can never bring back the same happiness we had back home?

 

   Upon many things that Ashima had to face in a new country, one of the biggest challenges was adapting to a new culture. Ashima was from a family where culture had a huge significance on them. Back home, Ashima was an independent, social woman, but when she moved to America, I as a reader perceived her to be a dependent and isolated woman. In comparison to Ashima, my mother was also an independent woman as working as a nurse back home. After she moved to Canada, I saw her life turning out to be more dependent on my father. Why is that, women become more dependent on others after they move to a foreign country? 

 

   In first world countries, it is not unusual for couples to use pet names for each other, but according to Ashima’s and Ashoke’s culture, it is very rare for couples to address each other using pet names, even if they are married. Other than pet names, Ashima and Ashoke never called each other by their names even if they knew it. Just like Ashima and Ashoke, my mother and father never use pet names for each other. My sister and I had never heard my mom calling my dad “honey” or “sweetie”, and vice versa. Unlike Ashima and Ashoke, my parents do call each other by their first names. Do you think it is only the Indian culture where couples do not address each other using pet names? If so, are there any other cultures that do not promote the use of pet names, and why do you think they are not used?

Adapting to a new culture in a new country