Lahiri, Jhumpa: *1967

The Namesake, 2003 - Thematic Parallels: Immigration

Lahiri, Jhumpa: The Namesake, 2003
This novel's topic is the immigrant experience and the complexities of identity in a multicultural world.
The following books are thematically similar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Danticat, Edwidge: Breath, Eyes, Memory, 1994, ~230pp
  This novel explores a Haitian girl’s relocation to the U.S., focusing on assimilation, family separation, trauma, and the pull between tradition and new identity.
  - Both novels explore how immigrant children inherit cultural burdens, familial expectations, and the complexities of dual identities. Whether through Sophie’s Haitian heritage or Gogol’s Bengali name, each character wrestles with belonging, self-definition, and intergenerational ties.
- Henríquez, Cristina: The Book of Unknown Americans, 2014, ~280pp
  This novel deals with the experiences of immigrants in the US, exploring themes of identity and belonging.
  - Both works are about the immigrant experience, especially the tension between preserving cultural heritage and adapting to America. They share themes of identity, family conflict, belonging, and the quiet dignity of ordinary immigrant lives.
- Kureishi, Hanif: My Son the Fanatic, 1997, ~70pp
  A short story about a Pakistani immigrant in England wrestling with cultural assimilation, generational conflict, and identity. Though shorter in format, it resonates deeply with the internal struggles featured in "The Namesake."
  - Both works highlight the tension between immigrant parents and their children, who negotiate identity differently. The children grapple with who they are in a Western context, torn between assimilation and heritage. Both works reveal how the immigrant experience produces conflict between generations, with children responding to the pressures of assimilation in drastically different ways.
- Shange, Ntozake: Betsey Brown, 1985, ~200pp
  This coming-of-age story follows a young African-American girl in the 1950s. It explores racial identity, belonging in a changing society, and finding one’s place.
  - Both novels are coming-of-age narratives that explore how young people navigate cultural identity, family expectations, and the search for belonging in societies that mark them as “different.” Shange does this through the lens of Black girlhood in the segregated U.S., while Lahiri does it through the immigrant experience in a multicultural America.
List of general discussion questions on Immigration (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Immigration (pdf)