Maturity (or Maybe Not...) in The Namesake

For the most part, all of our 8th period class' discussions involving Gogol have wound up bashing the Indian-American protagonist of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel.  We all have our reasons, myself included.  Some of us say he's selfish, others say he's irresponsible, and others say he's never grown up.  I could certainly agree with and make an argument for each of these standpoints, mostly because they all coincide in one way or another.  But I think that most importantly, all of these traits culminate in Gogol's immaturity.  Why? Well, first and foremost, the book starts off in the hours before his birth, and follows his childhood from the very beginning.  Think about it, why not start off the book when he goes to Yale?  Instead, Lahiri tells us the whole opening 18 years of his life in addition to those of his adulthood, because she wants to emphasize his continuous childlike behavior.  That significant chunk of the book (96 pages, about a third of it) juxtaposes Gogol's changing age with his unchanging behavior, a major source of our overall distaste for him.  But most importantly, Gogol's resentful behavior towards his parents, his name, and his culture in his adolescence has never really ended.  He has not matured and moved on, or at least grown to appreciate where he has come from.  Instead he changes his name, continues going by it, practically moves in with Maxine, and ignores his parents.  But with this theme of maturity in The Namesake, I keep anticipating some kind of change of heart from Gogol.  Especially with the unfortunate death of his father and the unfaithfulness of his wife Moushumi, maybe these events will force him to mature, and start accepting the facts of life to try and find some peace and happiness in the world.  Because, after all, with all the criticism he's got from us, I just want him to be happy!