Please write a short essay comparing Jhumpa Lahiri's story "The Third and Final Continent" and the film adaptation of her novel The Namesake. Your essay should take the following form.Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Summary of "The Third and Final Continent"
Paragraph 3: Summary of The Namesake
Paragraph 4: Discussion of one theme common to the story and the film
Paragraph 5: Discussion of a second theme common to the story and the film
Paragraph 6: Conclusion
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ReplyDeleteThe author of both the 'Namesake' and the "The third and final continent' was written by Jhumpa Lahiri. She is an Indian novelist and a famous one too.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian guy was born and raised in India (however he did not tell us much about his life in India) After this he left India for good and had to sail three weeks on the “SS ROMA” (must be a boat or ship) The narrator ended up being in England and then lived in the North of London in Finsbury Park. Later he had moved to the United States of America, to Boston since he was offered a full time job over there. First few days were spent in the YMCA in the Central Square of Cambridge. He had then moved to a house for about eight dollars per week and had to share this house with some old woman. Later on in life, the narrator finds love and this woman becomes his wife. They move into their own apartment which was around forty dollars per week.
However, in the movie 'the namesake' there are some very similar ideas. But, The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima leaving Calcutta, India and settle in Central Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later their son is born with the name of 'Gogol' and his nickname becomes Nick. this is because he was very shy and uncomfortable with his name. Later in the movie it becomes his official name. He leaves his first girlfriend for his fathers death, in which he shaves his hair off (must be a religion thing) and moves on. He meets a lady from the past and marrys her, after marrying the lady cheats on Nick. the mother of nick had left America to go back to India and that's where the movie ends.
Love is a strong theme of both ' The third and final continent' and the movie 'namesake'. both of the men who happen to be the main characters, leave Indiea for the big city meet a lady of their dreams and marry them.
Another would be 'adjustment' as the ladies of both the stories have a difficult time adjusting.
In general, i have enjoyed the movie more as it was all spoken out to us instead of reading it. however, the story was not too bad either. it was a very interesting story for both the movie and the story.
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ReplyDeleteThe Name Sake and The Third and Final Continent
ReplyDeleteIntroduction:
The Third and Final Continent is a book written by Jhumpa Lahiri is was written in 1999 and The Namesake was a Film based on The Third and Final Continent in 2008.
Summary of The Third and Final Continent
The story starts off with the narrator moving the England and settling in but soon after his marriage is arranged with his wife mala. He gets offered a job in Boston and moves there where he lived with Mrs. Croft paying 8 dollars a week. During this time he becomes good friends with Mrs Crofts daughter Helen who used to bring her soup every day. The arranged marriage happens and they marry as complete strangers and together they move to Boston in a bigger apartment a few blocks down of where he used to live. Mala is very traditional and in the beginning finds it very difficult to fit in and needed time to adjust to the life style of the Americans. Towards the end Mrs Croft dies and this strongly reminds the narrator of when his mother died.
Summary of The Namesake
The namesake is about a young man who decides after a train crash to move to England to live there. He goes back to India and an arranged marriage is organized for him and travels to America to find work. She later joins him and they have 2 kids. Gogol their oldest son studies architecture and get engaged to an American blonde girl. Then his dad has to leave to a different city to work and hasa heart attack and dies. Gogol gets very upset and breaks up with his girlfriend and goes back to India for a while. When he is back in America he meets an Indian girl and they marry but she cheats on him and they don’t speak ever again.
Discussion of one theme common to the story and the film
A theme mentioned and happening in both stories in immigration and having to adapt to the life styles of a whole new country’s culture. In both stories a man moves from India and lives in England and America where he and his family has to change their way of living. It shows that it is difficult and takes time to get use to.
Discussion of second theme common to the story and the film
Another theme is arranged marriages. In both stories a man and women who do not know each other are engaged and married. A traditional Indian way again suggesting the different cultures of civilizations. It shows that it takes time and patience to mart someone who you don’t know and you are destined to be with them for the rest of your life and even make children.
Conclusion
I think that the film was a lot better porbably because it is easier to understand a film then a book. Both sotries were really good and i enjoyed reading them. In both i learnt about Indian cultures which interests me very much.
The Third and Final Continent and the Namesake
ReplyDeleteThe Third and Final Continent and The Namesake were written by Jhumpa Lahiri are very similar in many ways. The Third and Final continent was from a group of award winning short stories and The Namesake was a novel that she wrote that was made into a movie.
The Third and Final Continent is about a man who first moves to England from India on a long journey on a ship called the SS Roma. He lives in a house with 4 or 5 other Bengali men. Eventually he has an arranged marriage with a woman named Mala from India. He moves to the USA while she gets her Visa to settle in. He first stays at the YMCA and then rents a place belonging to Mrs. Croft, a 103 year old woman. Eventually his wife moves in with him in a new place and they slowly get to know each other. It also seems like they live here or somewhere around here for the rest of their lives. He is also deeply saddened when Mrs. Croft dies as she was a very amusing person, making him yell splendid.
The Namesake starts in the past, showing the train crash that Ashoke was in. Then, it goes on to his arranged marriage. He meets Ashima for the first time and they get married. They then move to the USA where they have a small house in New York. Eventually, they have two children. They could not think of a name for their first child, so they give him a sort of baby name, then for him to be named later. They name him Gogol, but eventually think of the name Nikhil, or Nick. He decides to keep this name, but later regrets it and starts being called Nick. Their family takes a trip to the Taj Mahal where Gogol finds out that he wants to be an architect. It then skips, to when Gogol is in his 20s and is dating a girl named Maxine. He very much likes Maxine and they meet each other’s parents. Eventually, when Ashoke moves away for another job, without Ashima, he dies from a massive heart attack. They go through the usual Indian mourning and Gogol decides to live with his mother again. He and Maxine get into an argument, and he realizes that she is a very selfish person and they break up. After a while, his mother sets him up with a friend of hers’ daughter. They really like each other and eventually get married. He already knew that when she was going to get married before; the man, Pierre, broke up with her. He then learns that she was cheating on him and they break up. The story then skips on a bit, where Ashima decides to quit her job and spend 6 months in India and 6 months in America.
One theme in common is Indian culture. In The Namesake the children grow up where the Indian ideals are strange, so they don’t follow it as strongly but their parents are Indian and uphold these ideas strongly. Also, Maxine and Gogol break up because of the funeral ritual. We also see Gogol shave his head and Ashima take off her bracelets and taking off her red dot. In the Third and Final Continent always has some Indian details thrown out. Such as the bracelets and the fact that Mala covers her head when they first meet.
Another theme is travel. In both stories the men leave for a place far away from home. In the Namesake he moves to the USA and in the Third and Final Continent he first moves to the UK then to the USA. Also, in the Namesake, Gogol and Ashoke’s moving have a very large impact n the story.
I think that both of these stories were brilliantly written. I enjoyed reading and watching them. I liked the similarity and how the stories has similar characters, but different things happen.
“The Third and Final Continent” & “The Namesake”
ReplyDelete“The Third and Final Continent” and “The Namesake” are both written by Jhumpa Lahiri and are common in quite a few ways. The Third and Final Continent deals with an Indian man going from Calcutta to London then making a final voyage to America whereas The Namesake is about Ashoke moving to America to start a new life.
“The Third and Final Continent” starts off with an Indian man going from Calcutta to London on the SS Roma, then taking a plane back to Calcutta for his own wedding, then finally taking another plan to America, Boston to start his new life. The Bengali man lived in the YMCA hall before taking up the house that Mrs. Croft was offering for $8 a week as rent, Mrs. Croft asked him to make sure the door was locked, that rent was paid on time and that he was not allowed to have women in this house. After a few days he got used to Mrs. Croft always asking him to sit down, then talk about the flag on the moon, then say Splendid! Helen Mrs. Crofts 68 year old daughter meets the Bengali man and says that Mrs. Croft is actually 103 years old. Over time Mala, the man’s wife finally gets her green card and passport ready for coming to America to live with him, so he has to find a different house to live in, when Mala arrives she is a little confused at how things work in America but gets used to them over time. The Bengali man introduces Mala to Mrs. Croft and finds out that she has had an accident, a couple of months later he finds out that Mrs. Croft has died and he feels deeply saddened by this as this was his first death he mourned in America.
The Namesake starts off with a train crash that Ashoke was in, and then goes onto Ashoke meeting Ashima, his future wife. They then have a wedding before Ashoke has to leave for America to start his new career as a professor at a University in New York. Ashima finally arrives in New York and they both settle in before having a baby a couple of months later, naming the boy Gogol until their grandparents could think of a name for him, the years go by and Gogol keeps his name when he goes to school not knowing that it would cause problems for him later on in life. They have another baby this time a girl and they call her Sonia, we then see Gogol or Nikhil graduate and become an architect, the years go by and Gogol meets a young American girl by the name of Maxine and falls in love with her until realising that she only cares for herself and leaves her. It then skips on to Nikhil having an arranged marriage with a girl by the name of Moushumi as her original boyfriend, Pierre left her before their wedding day but after a while Nikhil leaves Moushumi as he finds out that she is cheating on him with Pierre. Ashoke dies of a heart attack and Gogol and his family have a traditional Indian funeral where Gogol shaves his head and Ashima takes of her bangles and wipes of her red dot on her forehead. It then ends with Ashima selling her suburban home and returning to Calcutta.
One theme is Indian culture as in the Final Continent we see that there is an arranged marriage between the Bengali man and Mala, Mala has her Sari over her head in a way to show that she is married, and at one part they both eat with their hands while in America. In the Namesake we see the Arranged marriage at the beginning between Ashoke and Ashima, and Gogol shaving his head and Ashima removing her bangles and red dot from her head at Ashoke’s Funeral.
ReplyDeleteAnother theme is travelling, as in the Final Continent shows the Bengali man travelling from Calcutta to London by Boat, then back to Calcutta for his wedding and then finally goes to America where he starts his new life, in the Namesake there is a lot of travelling between Calcutta and New York and also to see the Taj’Mahal, we also see that they return to Calcutta numerous times to see family, to give Sonia her name and see what profession she chooses and then Ashoke’s Funeral.
My conclusion is that both the Final Continent and the Namesake have numerous similarities, the only thing that is not a similarity is that they are not the same characters. Apart from that both the stories are good, both were enjoyable and likable.
Comparison of the Namesake & Third and Final Continent
ReplyDeleteIn class we read a story Third and Final Continent. The Third and Final Continent is a very interesting story written by Jhump Lahiri in 1999. Jhump Lahiri is a female writer who was born in 1967. She writes this story as a man. Then after we watched a film called the Namesake which is based on the same story. He moves to America to get a better life.
The story is about a man who leaves India to set off to England. He is extremely poor but lives in England for a while. He got blindly married to a woman named Mala and then got a job in America. He becomes a librarian and moves in to the YMCA. He is then moved to Boston and that is where he lives for a great period of time. Now comes in Mrs. Croft a 102 year old woman who he is renting a room from her apartment that he pays her 8 Dollars a week for. She sits with the narrator at the piano of the house all day and repeats the same thing every day, ‘check the lock, say splendid, there’s a flag on the moon’. Helen, Mrs. Crofts daughter visits every so often to give her soup and soon he and Helen become good friends. Mala then arrives in America and they start to actually love each other. Since Mala arrived the narrator stopped going to Mrs. Croft’s house and rents a bigger house. Mala though doesn’t like America. Mrs. Croft suddenly dies and the narrator is very affected from this happening as it reminded him of his mother.
The Namesake is a story about Ashoke who is a man who moves to America. This is where there was a crash while he is reading a book about Gogol. Ashoke then marries a Bengali Woman, Ashima. Ashoke then has a child, Nikhil Gogol, named after the man who wrote the book he was reading when he survived. Then he has another child, Sonia. Then The Third And Final Continent
PART 1
The Namesake and Third and Final Continent are stories written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The Namesake is very similar to Third and Final Continent. Third and Final Continent was written in 1999. The Namesake is a movie which is based on the novel written in 2003.
ReplyDeleteThird and Final Continent is about an Indian man who moves to London and then to America. Most of the story is set in America. In America he rents a room from an old lady who was surprised with the prospect of the man on the moon. She forgot thing s often and always sent on her bench. The man had gotten married through and arranged marriage before he moved to America. So when his wife comes he moves out and into a bigger house. While he is struggling to get to know his wife he takes her to visit Mrs. Crofts who instantly approves of her. A few later he learns that 103 year old women had passed away. Now whenever they drive past her house.
The Namesake is a story about an Indian man who is evolved in a train crash while reading a book by Gagol. He decides to move to America after he got married to the women his family had arranged him to marry. After they move to America, the Ashoke and Ashima become parents to a son they name Gagol. After many years and another daughter Gagol takes his girlfriend to meet the parents however they do not approve as she is not Indian. After his father dies he breaks up with her and marries an Indian woman who cheats on him. In the end Ashima moves back to Indian to practice her singing.
Tradition is a very important topic in both stories. They are both Indian families struggling to find their way in a foreign country. So they hold on to Indian traditions such as eating traditional Indian food. The women wear saris and they observe Indian religion. I think traditions play a very important role in understanding these people.
Growing up is a very important theme in both stories. In the Namesake grows up from child to adult trying to find his way. Ashima grows to love America and learn how to be a mother and a wife. In the Third and Final Continent this is also very important as you see how the narrator grows to understand the old women and how he grows to love his wife. Even though the characters grow up they still hold on to the past.
I enjoyed both stories and thought that they convey a powerful message: don’t forget who you really are. I thought that the movie was very good and I would love to read more stories by the writer.
Valentina Spiteri
“The third and final continent” and the “Namesake” are both stories written by the same author, Jhumpa Lahiri. We read “The third and final continent” in class but we watched the film adaptation of the story “The Namesake”. They both have very similar plots of the migration of Bengali families to the United States from Calcutta, India and explain their lives in the new continent.
ReplyDelete“The third and final continent” is about a Bengali man (the narrator) who moves through his life between 3 continents; Calcutta, India to London, England to Boston, USA. This story is mainly set in the 1960’s but moves later on through time. First he moves to England trying to find a job and working at the University’s library. Years later he is offered a job in Boston and before he leaves he first travels back to Calcutta to attend his arranged marriage with his fiancé, Mala. He finds Boston very different than London and has a peculiar relation with a 103-year old woman as his landlady for his 8-dollar rented apartment. Further on in the story Mala arrives in Boston and his and her relationship grows slowly but moving. Then by the very end of the story he hears that the 103-year old woman has died and is greatly moved by this sudden news.
“The Namesake” is about a young woman, Ashima and her arranged marriage with a Bengali man, Ashok an intelligent professor who brings her to their new home in the New York province, USA. Here in the movie they show how their relationship grows from being awkward strangers into being a husband and wife. They have 2 kids, one named Gogol by Ashok, a name of his favorite author who he read a book of when he had a tragic train accident and nearly died. Through Gogol’s life he has disliked his name a lot and has been determined to change it when he was legal to. He changed it to Nick and moved on in his life trying to get as far away from his parents as possible until he heard of his father’s death. Then he broke up with his present girlfriend and attended the funeral ceremony in Calcutta, applying to his role in the ceremony. Later on he marries a Bengali woman who is very seducing and fun but turns out having an affair with a French ex-boyfriend. It ends by Ashima, Gogol’s mom moving back to Calcutta to start her singing hobby again and Gogol going off to see the world as his father did and told him before he died.
One theme that contributes to both the movie and the story is the Bengali culture in the two. In the movie it is more visual but in the story thoroughly described. One sign of Bengali culture is the wedding ceremony of the Bengali. Here there are many different traditions and specific things you have to wear and do. The wife will have to wear plenty of Bengals (bracelets) representing her marriage. Women also are supposed to wear a lot of saris to show their beliefs and culture. One other ceremony of the Bengali culture that was only shown in the movie was the funeral. Here you are supposed to wear all white and the son or man close to the person should shave all of his hair off and lead the funeral ceremony.
Another theme similar to the story and the movie is arranged marriage. This is very common in the Hindu/Bengali culture. It is when your family/parents arrange a wife or husband for you to marry. Usually these are people who you haven’t even met. Both of the characters in the movie and the story had an arranged marriage and moved with their husbands to the United States. It was described in the book that their first weeks together were awkward and tense since none of them knew each other that well. But in both cases, they got closer and closer in relationship through time until they got children and a big family of their own. Even though arranged marriage is not that common nowadays, it is still done in most of the religious families in India.
('conclusion' on next post)
My conclusion is that both of the stories have many similarities and differences but very common themes that are very interesting as we get to learn a lot of the Hindu/Bengali culture which i am really fond to know more of. I really enjoyed reading this story and watching this movie as it is easy to relate to the characters being that we are international too and have moved to different countries with different cultures including our own home country's culture. I really hope we read and watch more stories similar to these.
ReplyDelete“The Third and Final Continent” and “the Namesake” were both written and published by Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian-American author. Both of them have big similarities, and the characters resemble each other in some cases. The “Namesake” is about an Indian who moves to America to begin a new life, and because a book couldn’t give him the real-life experience of traveling, like his grandfather had told him. The “Third And Final Continent” is based off the same thing, migrating from India to different countries, but instead this time the narrator moves to London before getting to America.
ReplyDelete“The Third And Final Continent” is about a man who had lived in Calcutta moving to London, and traveling on the SS Roma. The narrator is moving to London to work in a University Library, where he then also attends lectures. He then gets offered a job to work at the Library in a University called MIT, which is located in Massachusetts. He finds an apartment that an old lady is renting out, only for people who go/work at MIT and one other university, and takes it. The old lady’s name was Mrs. Croft, and she and the narrator formed a friendship, in a way, and he paid her the eight dollars she owed him at the end of each week. The narrator had had an arranged marriage before he’d left to America, so soon after his wife, Mala, comes to join him in living there. It takes time for the both of them to get used to each other and how the lifestyle is in their new home. Mrs. Croft dies soon after and their life goes on.
In the movie the “Namesake” there is a Bengali man who was a victim in a train crash, and nearly dies. Because of this, he realizes that life is too short to read books about other places, and should travel himself, and so decides to move to London and work/live there. He then visits India for a short time after, and his parents set up and arranged marriage for him, and then he gets married to a Bengali woman called Ashima. He then travels to America, where he lives and works afterwards. Later on, as soon as they’ve formed a relationship, they have two children. The first child is called Gogol, who studies architecture, and hates his name for the whole of his childhood. When Gogol is older, he works as an architect, and is engaged to a blonde girl called Max. Gogol breaks off the engagement after his father dies (since he moves, and doesn’t take Ashima with him, and dies from a heart attack), and he shaves his head, because he needs to be there for his mother and Max was being too insensitive. He goes back to living with his mother, and then gets introduced to a girl that is the daughter of a friend of his mother’s. He then starts to go out with her, so that his mother would be pleased with him, and then they decide to get married, even though Gogol already knows that her previous engagement had been called off and she still had feelings for her previous fiancé. They go through with the marriage, mainly to please their mothers, and live pleasantly together for a while. Then, a little later, Gogol finds out that she had been cheating on him with a man named Pierre. Gogol gets really upset, tells his mother about this news, and breaks it off with her. In the end, Ashima chooses to spend 6 months in India, singing, and doing the things she had originally wanted to do, and then 6 months in America.
Part 1.
-Tatiana T.
Part 2.
ReplyDelete-Tatiana T.
A common theme between “The Third And Final Continent” and “the Namesake” is Indian Culture. In The Third and Final Continent, the narrator/main character had grown up in India and was accustomed to the Indian culture. So when Mala comes to live with him, she cooks only the Indian food she knows for a while, as an Indian wife is supposed to do, before getting used to the way culture is in America. In the Namesake, the parents of Gogol and his sister grow up in India, whereas they did not. Gogol’s parents expect him and his sister to follow the Indian culture like they do, but since they live in America they sort of stray from acting in according to normal Indian culture. It is shown that when the father dies, Gogol shaves his head, as his father did as well when Ashima’s dad died, and Ashima takes off her bracelets and removes the red dot from her forehead.
Another theme that is shown in both the story and the film is Self Identity, where both of the characters sort of try and see who they really are in the end. In the end of The Namesake, Gogol isn’t ashamed of his name, because he knows what it really meant to his father now, and he seems like he regrets running away from his given name. In the Third And Final Continent, it also seems like the narrator is forming a different personality, or sort of changing, and in that way it seems like he is finding his own Identity/self.
I really enjoyed reading the story and watching the movie. The story and script were very well written, and the imagery they gave to the viewer/reader was great. I loved the similarities between the characters of the film and story, and how it really described and showed the Indian culture in depth. I used to have an Indian friend, and her father had shaved his head when his father died, so it was interesting to then find this out in a book as well.
The third and final continent is a story written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The movie was then based on the story and was called ‘The Namesake’. They are both have similar themes, migration and arranged marriages.
ReplyDeleteIn the third and final continent a man travels to England from India. From England he then travels to Massachusetts in the U.S.A and there he becomes a librarian at MIT and moves into the YMCA. He then rents a room from an old women called Mrs. Croft. He developed a weird friendship with her during his stay, but when his wife who he was arranged to marry moved in with him he had to leave and rent a bigger room, so he rented an apartment. They build a decent life in Massachusetts but he one day reads that Mrs. Croft died as she was really old, and he feels sad.
The Namesake was a film taken from the story ‘The Third And Final Continent’. It starts off with the main character Ashoke he moves from Calcutta India to New York in the United States. He moves to America after a train wreck, and on that train wreck a man tells him to explore the world so he begins to explore the world. Ashoke is arranged to marry Ashima, who finds it difficult to leave Calcutta, they get married and have 2 children Gogol, who is named after a famous author of his father’s favorite book and they have a daughter Sonya. The family grows up and when Sonya and Gogol move out, Ashima and Ashoke are left alone. Ashoke moves to Cleveland in America because of a job opportunity and when he moves there he has a heart attack and dies. Ashima then moves back to Calcutta to begin her singing career once again.
The biggest theme in both the movie and the story is migration. In the book the narrator starts off in Bengali, India where he then gets a job offer in the United States, so he begins to travel and goes to England and stays there for a short while after he then moves to the United States and lives in a little flat until his wife moves in after she moves in they move to a bigger appartment. In the movie the main charecter also starts in India and ends up int he United States. He starts off in Calcutta, India and he goes on a train and ends up in a crash, but the main tells him to explore the world and so he does. He settles into the states nicely and brings up a family and has a decent job. He then gets offered a job in Cleveland so he moves there and sadly passes away due to a heart attack so both stories have a death aswell.
The second theme in both the book and the story is that the main charecters have had arranged marriges. In the book the narrator has never met his wife and once she moves in they act like complete strangers until Mrs.Croft says she is perfect for him and they laugh about it and become very close in the end, and they have a son. In the movie the main chareceter marries Ashima and then he moves to the U.S she later joins him and they act like strangers but they go out to town and walk by a river where they start to talk and build up there friendships. Later on they have a son and a daughter and when the narrator moves to Cleveland and he dies leaving Ashima a widow.
Out of the book and movie, i prefered the movie as it made more sence to me then the book itself, but saying that i enjoyed both of them really well as they had good stories and were both very well written.
In class we read the story Third and Final continent, By Jhumpa Lahiri. We then watched the movie The Namesake that is based on the story. The two were very similar. They were both about a man who moved to America to get a better chance in life.
ReplyDeleteIn the Third and Final Continent is about a man who moves to England from India and from there moves to Massachusetts in the United States. He becomes a Librarian at MIT and moves into the YMCA. After a couple of days he moves in to room he rents from an old lady called Mrs. Croft. He has a very strange relationship with Mrs. Croft , everyday when he comes back from work she makes him sit on a piano bench next to her and declare that the fact that there was an American flag on the moon was splendid. After a week Mrs. Croft’s daughter Helen arrives to drop off some more soup for her mother. He has a prearranged Marriage to a woman named Mala and so when his wife arrives he moves into a small apartment that cost $40 a month. A couple of months later he reads in the obituary column of the newspaper, Mrs. Croft died at age 103. Whenever his son and his wife and himself drive past Mrs. Crofts old house he talks about how ‘splendid’ she was.
The namesake is a film based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s book. It tells the journey of a man who moves to America to become a doctor. He then marries a woman called Ashima that was prearranged by his brother. He, Ashoke, and his new wife, Ashima, live in America. They have a son called Nikhil; his nickname is Gogol after the Russian author Nikolai Gogol. They have a daughter named Sonea. The children grow up and Nick doesn’t want to be Bengali, he lives in the city and has an American girlfriend. His father then moves to Cleveland to take up a six-month job away from his mother. Ashoke then has a massive heart attack and dies. Nick then decides that he wants to Bengali and marries a Bengali girl. His Bengali wife then breaks up with him to stay with her ex French boyfriend. Ashima then moves back to India so she can practice her singing.
One theme both these stories have in common would be cultural differences because in both stories the main character has problems adjusting to American lifestyle. The wives in both stories also have problems adjusting to the lifestyle and being away from their parents, family and home.
Another theme in common with these two stories would be relationship. The relationship between the main characters and their wives. The relationship between Nick and Ashoke in The Namesake and the relationship between the Narrator and Mrs. Crofts in Third and Final Continent. These relationships are probably the most important ones in the whole of the stories. There are a couple more such as the relationship between Ashima and Ashoke and the relationships between Nick and first Maxine and then with his wife.
These two stories are quite similar but different at the same way. Both stories are entertaining and meaning full and both have two and maybe more common themes. They share the same storyline similarities and they are both set in America. They are very similar though .
The Third and final continent is a story which was written in 1999 and which is basically about a man who grew up in India ( he does not tell us much about that life) and decided to move to England for a better life with his new wife which he hardly knew. The story is about his move firstly to London then to Boston in the USA. When he moved to England on his own he had no experience of how things worked or how to do things but he was a smart man and he managed to adapt to it, before continuing his journey to Boston. When he moved to Boston he stayed with an old woman in a large old house, and his rent was 8 dollars a week. His aim of staying in Boston was to get a comfortable way of living and also to make money. After a few months he decided to ask his new wife to move over with him. He found a small place which cost 40 dollars a week. He made sure that she would be comfortable even though he barely knew her and after some time she arrived in Boston. They lived there together and they grew to love each other and they also had a baby and continued living their life in America.
ReplyDeleteThe ‘ NameSake’ Movie has the same idea and also has a lot of similarities but it started with the couple Ashoke and Ashima moving away from Calcutta in India and into America. After some time of them living there they had their first child which they called Gogol. The father decided to name his son after a book that inspired him a lot. Gogol grew up hating his name and he wanted to change it after he was legal too. He changed it to Nick and when he moved away from home he completely moved away from his Indian life and traditions and started another life. He had girlfriend who he l0ved dearly but after his father died he changed his mind on the whole idea and he left her. This story is mainly focused on his life and his name. When he continued his life without his father he fell in love with a girl who he had known when he was younger and also despised. He married her and there was finally some joy in their lives but she ended up cheating on him and so they split up. In the end of the movie Gogol goes back to India and finds his past and his fathers past.
In both the movie and the story there is a strong theme of love. In the story it is not shown as much as in the movie but it was still there. Even though in the story he had just married his wife and he did not know her well after time they grew to love each other and some of the description used could show it. In the movie it was similar at the beginning but when the husband dies, his wife greaves for the rest of her life and in every scene of the movie you could tell that she was thinking about him.
Again in both the movie and the story there is migration. In the story they move a few more times than in the movie but they both move away from India and to America. Even though it is in different places in America It still has a similar way of life and the same ideas. Along with migration another important theme that both stories have is Adjustment to living in the new places. Both WOmen from the movies were not keen on moving away from home but they both did it and it ended well, because they both loved living in USA.
In conclusion both the story and the movie were good and i enjoyed them both. I think i enjoyed the movie a bit more because it was more detailed and it had a beginning and an end, the story started in the middle and didnt finish at the end either but on the whole they were good.
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ReplyDelete‘The Names Sake’ and ‘The Third and Final Continent’ were both written by a famous Indian writer called Jhumpa Lahiri. She writes novels about intermixed culture.
ReplyDelete‘The Third and Final Continent’ about a man that moves to England form Bengal and soon after he goes back to India for an arranged marriage. So he ends up marrying a lady called Mala but soon after the wedding he moves to Boston, America. There he finds a job as in a University library and he finds a room to rent. Mrs. Croft is the landlord and she always makes him say “splendid”. He also gets used to Mrs. Croft and she becomes part of his life for a short time. He learns that Mrs. Croft is 103years old and starts to be extra careful just in case something happens. After a while He finds a different place to live and Mala moves to America. He worries about her and thinks she is a sweet person. He takes Mala with him to visit Mrs. Croft. Mrs. Croft had an accident she fell and is recovering so they sit with her. Mrs. Croft says Mala is the perfect lady and Mala smiles.
‘The Names sake’ is about a man gets into a train crash while read a book by a man named Gogol. The book save his life. He decides to move to England. Later he goes back to india and marries a woman and moves to America later his wife joins him. The have a son and they name him gogol. The boy really liked his name when he was younger but when he grew up he hated it . then they have a daughter. Gogol gets engaged to an American woman and but his mother wants him to marry an Idian woman. His dad tells him how he got his name and how special it is to him. His dad dies and gogol decides to finally follow the Indian tradition and shave his head and marry an Indian woman. His mother sdets him up and he falls in love with her but in the end his wife cheats on him.
Both stories are about men that move from india to America in hope to discover and find a new place. It shows how they work to make money and how the two cultures are so different from one another. In bothe cases the main characters like living abroad better than living at home and find it more convienent. For example it is normal for people in ameriaca to be close to one another where as in India there is some idstance between friends. In both they show the hardship of being married and how both couples had to cope with the situations and how much they loved eachother.
ReplyDeleteThe main common theme in the story and the film would be relationships because in both stories the main characters got marries and ‘The Third and Final Continent’ Gogol breaks up with his fiancee and marries someone his mother gets him together with. The main charaters move to ameriac with out their wives and worry about then over little things like gettins lost or doing the washing. Or how they try and make them happy it really shows us that they love they.
I liked the both the film and the story. In my opinion the film was easier to understand but I like the story because it wasn’t as complicated as the film. The story was sweet. The ending of the films was quite sad because his wife cheats on him. But that’s life I guess.
by Evita Otigbah
The Third and final Continent and the Namesake
ReplyDeleteIntroduction:
The story “The Third and Final Continent” and the novel which the film “The Namesake” is based on, are both written by by Jhumpa Lahiri. The author is Indian and was born on July 11, 1967. Both stories are about an Indian moving to America.
Summary of "The Third and Final Continent":
The story starts with the narrator leaving India. He came to England by ship and there he lived for quite a while. He was really poor at the beginning. Then he got married with a woman from Calcutta. About at the same time, he was offered a full time job in America. So right after the wedding, he moved to America, but without his wife. In America, he then lived in a house with an old woman, Mrs Croft. This woman was really happy about the flag on the moon and told the narrator every evening, that this was really ‘splendid’. Helen, the woman’s daughter, visited Mrs Croft to give her food. Later, the narrator’s wife arrives, and so he moves to an own apartment. They behaved like strangers at the beginning, but that is understandable, because apart from the wedding, they have never met. She had some difficulties to get used to America. Then they visited Mrs Croft, and she said that the narrator’s wife was the right woman for the narrator. The evening at Mrs Croft made the couple laugh together and for the first time the distance between them got smaller. Later, Mrs Croft died, which affected the narrator, because she was important to his life. He saw his dead mother in her. Even years later, he often drove past her house and remembered the time with Mrs Croft.
Summary of “The Namesake”:
The movie “The Namesake” started with the Indian narrator being in a train. He was reading a book by the writer ‘Gogul’ and he liked it. Next to him was a family and a man told him about America and that the narrator should go there some time. Then, suddenly, there was an accident and I think everybody apart from the narrator died. I’m sure this was the reason why the narrator then moved to America. He had an arranged Marriage with an Indian woman. Together they live in America and the woman has some difficulties to get used to America. They got two children, on boy who they named Gogul, and a girl. When the boy was young, he didn’t want to change his name, but as he grew older he thought it was embarrassing to have this name which was also the name of that famous writer. Gogul had an American girlfriend but after his father died he broke up with her. Then he had an Indian girlfriend and he had an arranged marriage with her. However, she cheated on him later.
Discussion of one theme common to the story and the film:
The story and the movie are a lot about ‚moving’. In the stoy, the narrator first moves to England and then to America. In America he moves from the YMCA to a house which he shares with an old woman and then he moves to another apartment because his wife comes. In the movie, the man moves to America, too. He moved most likely because of the train crash. So both stories are about moving and the consequences of moving like getting to know a new country, learning new traditions and ways of living, getting used to weather conditions and everything. In both stories, America is seen as something new and different. They have to decide which traditions to keep and what new things to do. Moving is very difficult and both stories show what problems can happen but how exciting it is to move in a new country.
Discussion of a second theme common to the story and the film:
ReplyDeleteIn the story „The Third and Final Continent“ and the movie „The Namesake“ are many common themes. ‘Loss’ is one of them. In the story “The Third and Final Continent”, the old woman, Mrs Croft, dies. Her death affects the narrator a lot, even though it was very obvious she would die soon and he should have been prepared for that. But that woman really meant a lot to him because she was one of the first people he got to know in America, she helped him to close the distance between his wife and she reminded him of his mother. His mother also died and he often had some flashbacks about his mother and they show how sad he was and how much he suffered from his mother’s death. In “the Namesake”, death happened more often. First, there was the train crash, and I think everybody died except for the Indian man. Later, his wife’s father died. The death was a shock to both of them. A long time later, when he and his wife have children in young adult age, the Indian man dies. He had a heart attack in the hospital. His wife was devastated and Gogul sahved off his hair which seems to be an Indian tradition. But with loss I don’t mean only the deaths, but only loss of the home country, which occurs in both of the stories because the people move and the loss that the mother had when her son had the American girlfriend and didn’t visit her very often. It’s the loss of the children and getting used to what they became – adults. And it could also be seen as a loss when they changed a lot in their lifestyle to American, because that’s the way they lose their traditions. That’s what’s happening in both stories.
Conclusion:
Both, the story and the movie were really good. I thought that it was really interesting to learn about India. They had a lot of similar themes, but still were very different stories. They probably want to show us, how different America to India is and what life is like when you migrate. It gives us the type of live probably a lot of people from India had, with all its bad and good days.
Jhumpa Lahiri wrote both Third and Final Continent and The Namesake in the laste 20th century and early 21st century.
ReplyDeleteThird and Final continent starts when the Narrator is on the SS Roma on his way from Calcutta to London. He stays in a flat and works in the London School of Economics. He then goes back to Calcutta to marry a woman called Mala. He then flies out to Boston initially staying in a YMCA. He begins working at MIT in the library. He finds a flat with an old woman named Mrs Croft, she charges him $8 a week. The Narrator is oblivious that she is over 100 years old due to her enthusiasm and energy. When he finds this out, he begins to care for her a lot. We get the impression that she has inspired him. After 6 weeks staying with Mrs Croft, the Narrator moves out to find a flat for when Mala arrives in America. At first, they seem to have barely and intimacy, but this soon grows. We find out that they have a son at the end.
The Namesake has many similarities to Third and Final Continent. It also contains a Bengali couple that had an arranged marriage. The ma Ashoke and his wife Ashima leave India for New York. They have a son called Gogol. He doesn’t like this name as he is mocked about it and therefore changes it to Nick. Ashoke dies of a heart attack later. Nick then shaves his head and embraces the Bengali culture instead of trying to move away from it. He marries a lady he used to know but breaks up with her after she cheats on him. Nick’s mother went back to India to pursue her singing.
Both stories feature marrige as a main theme. As both are Bengali couples, they go through arranged marriges. In the beginning we realise that they are a bit uncomfortable being around eachother. However, they begin to become more intimate and eventually form close bonds. Arranged marriges are like forming friendships then closer relationships but you are married the whole time.
Another theme that the two have in common is travelling. In Third and Final Continent, the main character moves from India to London to Boston. In the Namesake, Ashoke moves from India to America after being inspired to travel the world.
I enjoyed both the movie and book. They both talked about similar events occuring. They also provide adventure and adaptaion. They are both very good to read/watch.
‘The Namesake’ and ‘The Third Final Continent’ are both stories about an Indian man’s travels from India to the Western World and are both written by Jhumpa Lahiri. ‘The Namesake’ is a 2008 film based on a story written by Jhumpa Lahiri.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story, the narrator is just leaving Calcutta in India to go to London. When he arrives in London, the narrator studies and works at the London School of Economics until he has enough money to fly to Calcutta for his wedding and then to Boston to continue his life. At first, the narrator finds life in America different from London. Then the narrator decides to move to a room in a house on a quiet street. It is at this house that the narrator first meets Mrs. Croft. After drilling into him that he is to lock the door when he comes in, they settle their soon daily routine of sitting at the piano bench, talking about the moon landing and saying “Splendid!” For six weeks he lives with Mrs. Croft and is still amazed at her age. By the end of August Mala is ready to come to America. After some weeks she starts to adjust to the American way of life, as well as getting used to having a husband which the narrator finds difficult as well. However, the two start to grow together in time and after meeting Mrs. Croft, and later on after her death, they have a son.
The Namesake has a very similar storyline to ‘The third and final Continent’. The initial main character, who is a Bengali Indian called Ashoke, moves to Boston from Calcutta to start his new life as a lecturer at MIT. His marriage is arranged in India and he lives with his wife in Boston. When their son and daughter have grown up, the perspective shifts more Ashoke’s son who he named Gogol after the writer he was reading before a train crash. Gogol goes through life with his parents somewhat on the backburner as he focuses on his relationship with a woman which ends when Gogol’s father dies and his girlfriend acts very selfishly. After this he marries a Bengali woman he met when he was much younger who cheats on him, leaving him alone again. In the End his mother moves back to India and his sister has a great relationship.
The underlying them in both stories is that of Travel. The protagonists in both stories travel far from their home countries to live and work in a new western world. This begins a huge change in their lives as they adjust to new traditions, people and ways of living. Not only for the protagonist’s, but for their wives as well, the movement of thousands of miles across the world changes them into new people.
Another theme that is shared by both the
story and the film is loss. The main characters in both story and film go through some sort of loss at one point, more so in ‘The Namesake’ than in ‘The Third and Final Continent’. In ‘The Namesake’ the first loss experienced by Ashoke is the train crash at the very beginning of the story, later on when he is married to Ashima they find out that her father dies which affects Ashima deeply. The biggest loss for all the family is the death of Ashoke; not only does this cause grief but it breaks up the relationship between Gogol and Maxine after she acts selfishly. Gogol loses his first serious relationship and when he marries with another woman she cheats on him and he loses that relationship aswell.
In the Third and Final Continent, loss is present but not as much as in ‘The Namesake’. One case of loss for the narrator was his mother who suffered from a mental illness that led to her death which occurs before the story begins and memories of which frequently appear in the narrator’s mind. Near the end of the story, the narrator experiences more loss when the first person he admired and really knew in America, Mrs. Croft, dies.
ReplyDeleteThe similarities between both ‘The Namesake’ and ‘The Third and Final Continent’ are plain to see and it isn’t surprising that they were written by the same author. I think both of the stories present realistic and entertaining characters and Jhumpa Lahiri begins forward an creative way to show how travel affects peoples lives and how cultures can be vastly different.
The story “Third and Final Continent’ was written by Jhumpa Lahiri in 1999, and the story “The Namesake” written in by Jhumpa Lahiri also in 2003 are similar in many ways, and have a very similar story line and characters.
ReplyDeleteThe story of “The Third and Final Continent” starts with the protagonist on the cargo vessel the SS. Roma, traveling to London from India, so that he can travel and get a good job there. He lives there for five years, in a small house with other Indians, and works at the London School of Economics to earn some money, which he plans to use to fly back to Calcutta, so that he can attend his planned Wedding, and move onto America. After attending his wedding, and leaving his wife to sort out here VISA and travel problems, he moves on to Massachusetts, where he finds out that man has just stepped foot on the Moon. He first stays at YMCA, and finds it very difficult to adapt to the different lifestyle and way of life and daily routine. He eventually decides to rent out a room in a quiet house, owned by Landlady Mrs. Croft, who is a very forgetful person, who seems to be fond in the main character. When he finds out from Helen, Mrs. Croft’s daughter, who comes every Sunday to bring Mrs. Croft supplies from the shop, that Mrs. Croft is one hundred and three years old, he feels shocked that she could have lived this long, and he feels stronger for her, and he feels that every day is a miracle for her. He finds it hard to part after six weeks of staying there, but he must, as his wife is about to come to America. A few weeks or months later, when the couple are having a child, he finds out that Mrs. Croft has passed away, and he feels deeply saddened, although not shocked. Eventually, they form a family, and adapt to the new lifestyle together.
The story of “The Namesake” is very similar to that of the Third and Final Continent. The story starts off with the protagonist talking about how he is not planning to travel anywhere, when the train that he is traveling on crashes, and he is hospitalized. The next time that we see him, he is with his and Ashima’s family. Ashima is the person who is to be married to the main character. She finds out that he has been living in America, and after they marry, they move back to New York, where Ashima finds it very hard to adapt to the new busy life. In the next time skip, they have their child, Gogol as he is quickly names temporarily by Ashoke, but the name sticks. 4 years later, they have a daughter, Sonia. The family is very used to the lifestyle now, and when the children grow up, they are very much influenced by the lifestyle, and they seem more American than Indian. Nikhil as he is now known, is just graduating University, and he is being disrespectful towards others, and when he goes on holiday with his family, he finds out that he wants to be an architect. He falls in love with an American girl named Maxine, and later, when Ashoke dies of a heart attack, they break up, after Maxine is being selfish. In the following months, he meets up with Moushumi, who he had met a few years before. They eventually get married, however he finds out that she is cheating on him about a year later, and they break up. Ashima states that she is moving back to India to carry on with her singing career, and Nikhil feels free, and travels onwards, reading Gogol.
One common theme is Indian marriage, as in the Namesake, Ashoke has an arranged marriage, organised by the two families, and the traditions of the wedding are shown vividly, through the clothing, and actions, as the clothes that they wear are very traditional, and symbolic. Later on, Gogol has a wedding that is almost identical with Moushumi. In the Third and Final Continent, the main character has an arranged marriage with Mala, who he has not met before, and at first, has no great feelings for.
Another common theme is Migration, as in the Namesake, Ashoke travels to America after a horrific train accident, and then goes back to India to get married, and bring his wife to America, and they go on holiday to India for a few months in the future, and at the end of the film, as shown in the beginning, Gogol is traveling on a train, reading the book his father gave him, Nikolai Gogol. In the Third and Final Continent, the main character moves from Calcutta to London, and then from London on to America, where he eventually settles down, and starts his family.
ReplyDeleteI think that both of these stories were very well written, and both had a great story to them. They have many similarities, and both symbolise the Indian lifestyle in another country, and how people adapt to new environments.
The two things i am going to write about are a story, and a movie. The story is called "The third and final continent", and it is written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The movie is based on a book, also by Jhumpa Lahiri. Jhump Lahiri is a female author of many books and stories, she was born in 1967, and she is Indian(Hindu), so her books and stories are about Indian people generally.
ReplyDelete"The third and final continent" is written by jhumpa Lahiri. It is a short story which is telling about a Bengali person who first travels to england to seek for his future, then when he becomes older, his parents arrange a wedding for him. His wife is quite old to get married in indian way, because her skin is quite dark. He marries her, and then he goes to USA, Boston for three weeks to settle down while she is waiting for him. For him it is somehting new, because it is the first time he goes to America, and the life speed is much faster than the one of england, "don't expect a cup of tea" as it said in the story. Plus it is a third continen, because first he is in India, then he moves to England for a couple of years, and then he goes to USA to work in a library, and it is his third and final continent he lives in. For his wife it is somehting new because she has never been so far from home and fom her parents. When the main character arrives to Boson, he first goes and rents a room in YMCM, but eventually he rents a room from an old, 103 year old lady. They have this routine going on everyday,but when his wife comes he rents a whole apartment. They adapt to food, how to live and other sorts of things. Eventually the lady dies, and eventually they become close with eachother, because first it was hard for them because they had an arrangd wedding, so didn't have a chanc to get to know eachother and fall in love. So this story is generally about an idian couple who come to America to live in a better place.
"The Namesake" is quite similar to "The third and final continent". Itis a movie about a man who is going to see his grandfather by train, he is reading a book by Nikolai Gogol, during that trip he survived through a train accident. From that day Nikolai Gogol became his favourite author. Lare on he gets married to a irl named Ashima, they go together to USA. In America they get a baby, and the man names him Gogol(weird i know), nd after that the mvie is really about Gogol. About his childhood, his young adulthood and is adulthood. He goes to American school so when he finds a girlfriend, who is not Indian, it is very strange for his parents, and they insist on marrying a Bengali girl. During hat time his father dies. He marries a girl, but she is having an affair with a french guy. During his lifetime he doesnt like his name, and changes it to Nick, and then changes it back to Gogol, which i think is strange. This movie is also about a couple who move to America, then about heir family and their children.
The theme which is common in both, the story and th movie is marriage and family life. The character in "The third and final continent" really moves to America in order to live happily with his wife, and hen he gets to know about her more and so achieves his goal eventually. In "The Namesake", the family theme is actually more shown, and it is more important. Like the arranged marriages, and actual real love.
The secong theme which is common in the sory and the film is immigration. Boh character moved to America, in order to live a better life, because there is more opportunities. For both of hm it is quite hard, because it is a completely different country, with completely different traditions and different life rhythm. So in the story nd the film they adapt to the counties they now live in, and how they try to keep their traditions and beliefs, because it is hard to keep them when you are surrounded by toher type of people.
ReplyDeleteSo, both he story and the film are about indian families that move to america in order to seek for happiness. Both are about serch for happiness, immigration, marriage, death, family building. I really enjoyed watching a movie and reading the book, though i preferred the movie, because everyhting was shown so good, and there as more of family life i the movie.
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ReplyDeleteI will compare the story “The third and final continent” written by Jhumpa Lahiri in 1999 and movie called “The Namesake” which was based on a book by Jhumpa Lahiri too and released in 2006. Jhumpa Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967 and she is an Indian American author.
ReplyDelete“The third and Final Continent” is about a Bengali men who moved from India in 1964 He wasn’t rich because he had just 10 dollars at the beginning of his trip to England and he was in the third-class cabin next to engine on the boat. In England he lived in North London in the house with Bengali man. He lived three or four man to a room. In 1969 when he was 36 years old his wedding was arranged in Calcutta. He never saw or knew before the women which become his wife.” So little did I know her that, while details of her face sometimes rose to my memory, I could not conjure up the whole of it.” Around the same time he was offered a full-time job in America in MIT where salary was generous enough to support a wife. By that time he had enough money to go by plane and rent good flat. First night he spends in YMCA after he found a room in the house of old women it wasn’t expensive just 8 dollars per week. Every day in this house was the same story for the narrator. “Each evening when he returned Mrs. Croft slapped the bench, ordered to sit down, declared that there was a flag on the moon, and declared that it was splendid after narrator was saying that it was splendid too” after what narrator was free to go to his room. Every weekends Mrs. Croft’s daughter Helen was coming to help her mother. She was bringing the food and cleaning the house. When Narrators wife was coming he rent a new more comfortable and bigger flat where they could live together. After Mala came to him they were trying to get each other. One day Narrator showed to Mala the house of Mrs. Croft as the first home in this country and there the distance between Mala and narrator become less. Later narrator read in the news paper that Mrs. Croft died “she had left this world at last, ancient and alone, never to return.” He was really sad because it was the first life he had admired. Mala and Narrator are living together in the house with their son 20 miles away from Boston.
“The Namesake” is similar to “The Third and Final Continent” because its also was about Indian immigrant who moved to another country with his wife far away from the home. “The Namesake” at the beginning of the movie we saw a terrible train crash in which Ashoke was the only who survived. Just before the train brake the guy said “Go see the world” and that why Ashoke went traveling all around the world. In India parents of Ashoke arranged him a wedding with Ashima. Ashoke and Ashima married each other and leave Calcutta, India and settle in Central Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was the first time when he get out of the country. There he was with his new wife living in small flat where wasn't enough space. After they got a baby boy they called him Gogol it was his “pet name” until their grandmother gave him a “good name” Nikolya. However when boy went to school everyone was calling him Nick so he changed his “good name” on Nick. Then Ashoke and Ashima got baby girl her name was Sonia. All the time they were living in that country and little by little they start understand rules and also they found new friends in the city. Children grew up and found their couple but the wife of Gogol made an affair and broke up with him so he become alone. Daughter, Sonia met a French husband and lived with him. Father of Gogol died and mother start to live alone then she moved to her country home country and start singing again.
Polina Part 1
Love
ReplyDeleteIn the story and the movie we can see the true love. The man was preparing everything for his wife. He was making sure that she will be alright in a new country far away from the home. Also we can see the parent love to children when they went to school or moved to a better house we can see it in movie and the story. Wile children were small they loved their parents and after some time they found their own love to the partner they chose. Like in the movie Gogol to his wife and Sonia to her French husband. Everyone love Ashoke on the work because he was hardworking person, his wife because he was loyal to her, his children because he took care about them, his friends because he was kind. That why all those people came on his funeral. Everyone loved each other in that family in “The name sake” and “The Third and Final Continent”
Trust
Everyone trust each other in the movie and in the story. Woman wasn't scared to go to another country far away from her home town, parents, family and friends just because she trusted her husband that why she went together with him. Parents were trusting their children to go to school making their own choices Like choosing the name in “The Namesake” . Parents believed in their kids. Everything was based on trust and truthful feelings toward each other. In the book we can see the trust from Ms. Croft Who wasn't afraid to lend the room to the stranger.
“The Third and Final Continent” and “The Namesake” are similar because they both about Indian Immigrants who are moving with their families. They both show how people live outside of their home country, how they keep their religious and how they changing their views. They are both a life stories. I liked them both. Movie was good because you actually can see everything and it easy to anderstand. In the book you can find more details. So it’s good that we first read the book and then watch the movie because it made explained many things.
Polina Part 2
‘The Namesake’ & ‘the Third and Final Continent’
ReplyDeleteBoth the Namesake and The Third and Final Continent were written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The Third and Final Continent was written in 1999 and The Namesake, which is a movie, had been released in 2007. Both the story and film relate to each other in many ways.
The Third and Final Continent is about a Bengali person who is travelling to Boston for a job to be able to raise a family and have a better life. He eventually became successful, and also married a woman called Mala. Before he had his own place to live, he used to stay at Mrs. Croft’s house, but after he moved out of her house a few months later she died of old age. This upset him as they both cared for each other a lot.
The Namesake is about a Bengali person called Ashoke, who was very interested in a writer known as Nicolai Gogol and his books. Later that night, the train meets a dreadful accident. After that accident, he then re-located to New York City and settled down for quite a while at an old lady’s home. In 1977, he returns home to his family where he marries a woman called Ashima. She then goes back to New York with him, and finds difficulty to adapt to their cultures and/or traditions in the beginning. Shortly after, they have a son who is named ‘Gogol’, after Ashoke’s favorite writer and eventually they have a girl called Sonia. They later travel back to India, but Gogol and Sonia find difficulty to keep entertained and really start to miss their home in America. Gogol later falls in love, and moves in with his fiancée. Later, Gogol’s father passes away; Gogol breaks up with his girlfriend and goes back to India’s traditional ways.
One theme between The Third and Final Continent and The Namesake is sacrifice, as how in both of them, one person struggles to leave their home, family and friends but with a must to be a success with a good job and good wages. How they find it hard to adapt to new traditions and customs of another country, but after all the struggles and effort, they start to love that country.
Another theme in the Namesake and The Third and Final Continent can be dedication, as from going to America in New York City, had begun from a scrap of $10, but eventually with all the obstacles and struggles that life brought Ashoke and his wife, he built his way up and eventually lived in a nice cozy apartment, had good wages, 2 children and a comfortable life. He became a success after all the hard work.
Overall, I thought both the story and the film were great. They were both interesting and they both really caught my attention. I preferred the film mostly, only because it made the whole concept of the plot much easier to understand between their similarities. The plots for both the movie and the story are similar in many ways. The only real differences in them is the names of the characters, and the locations in America (one is in New York City, and the other is in Boston).
The Third and Final Continent and The Namesake Comparison!
ReplyDeleteThe ‘Third and Final Continent’ is a short story written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The movie ‘The Namesake’ is based on the same story. They are both have similar themes, migration, family, arranged marriages, death and so on...
The story is about a man who leaves India to set off to England. He is extremely poor but lives in England for a while. He got blindly married to a woman named Mala and then got a job in America. He is then moved to Boston and that is where he lives for a great period of time. Now comes in Mrs. Croft a 102 year old woman who he is renting a room from her apartment that he pays her 8 Dollars a week for. She sits with the narrator at the piano of the house all day and repeats the same thing every day, ‘check the lock, say splendid, there’s a flag on the moon’. Helen, Mrs. Crofts daughter visits every so often to give her soup and soon he and Helen become good friends. Mala then arrives in America and they start to actually love each other. Since Mala arrived the narrator stopped going to Mrs. Crofts house and rents a bigger house. Mala though doesn’t like America. Mrs. Croft suddenly dies and the narrator is very affected from this happening as it reminded him of his mother.
The Namesake was a film taken from the story ‘The Third and Final Continent’. It starts off with the main character Ashoke who moves to New York from his home town in India, Calcutta. He then moves to America after a train wreck. On that day he is told a story to explore the world. This is when he begins his exploration. Ashoke is arranged to marry Ashima, a woman who is very shy. She finds it extremely hard to leave Calcutta. They later get married and have 2 children, Gogol, the older brother and Sonya, his younger sister. Ashoke named Gogol, Gogol as it was the author of the book he was reading on the train wreck he was on who ‘saved his life’. It was also his favourite book. This is unfortunate as later on after the family grows up in school people tease him about his name that he hates. Later both the children of Ashoke and Ashima leave. Ashoke later moves to Cleveland in America because of a job opportunity. This is where he has a heart attack and dies. Ashima then moves back to Calcutta to begin her singing career once again. Gogol later learns that his father was right and he should have appreciated the name he was given as it gave Gogol an opportunity of life.
The theme in both the movie and the story is migration, travelling and moving around to different places in the world. In the book the narrator starts off in Bengali, India where he then gets a job offer in the United States. He then moves to England and moves back to the United States and lives in a little flat until his wife moves in. Then he moves again to a bigger apartment. In the movie the main character also starts in India and ends up in the United States.
Another theme in common with these two stories would be relationship. The relationship between the main characters and their wives. First Ashoke and Ashima were not loving to each other but then they eventually became deeply in love. Also with Nick and Maxine and later his wife, they both loved each other from the start. Also in the Third and Final Continent the man had some affection to Mrs. Croft and he was sad when she died.
I personally preferred the movie as it made more sense and was more interesting and fun to watch. Also it had a more intense story and it was rather sad, but I still liked them both and enjoyed reading/watching them.
Jhumpa Lahiri –
ReplyDeleteComparing ‘The Third and Final Continent'
and ‘The Namesake’
‘The Namesake’ and ‘The Third and Final Continent’ were both produced by the same person, Jhumpa Lahiri, who is a famous Indian writer. This essay will hopefully point out the similarities in the themes and events in both versions of the story.
‘The Third and Final Continent’ beings with the narrator sailing on the SS Roma and describing how it was not a very hospitable place. He arrives in England and he does not have a good job, and he has to stay in a place with 3 or four other people, and how they take turns cooking egg curry. He has to go back to India to get married to a woman called Mala, and he then travels to America (Boston) to work in the processing department of a library at MIT, and the salary he gets will be enough to support a wife. He rents a house for 8 dollars a week. The house belongs to an extremely old lady called Mrs. Croft that makes him do the same things everyday; check the lock, sit next to her, and say ‘Splendid!’ after she tells him that there is a flag on the moon. Mrs. Croft’s 68 year-old daughter comes to help Mrs. Croft out and this is when the narrator learns that Mrs. Croft is 103 years old. He is astonished that he knows someone who is over a century old. The narrator’s wife finally manages to come to America, and they move out of the house he was renting and move into an apartment for 40 dollars a week. They sleep in the same bed, but they are having trouble getting a close relationship. The narrator shows Mala the house he was renting and they see that Mrs. Croft had broken her hip. She makes the narrator say ‘Splendid!’ again and this makes Mala laugh. Then, Mrs. Croft makes the narrator laugh, and this is the start of the marriage becoming more intimate. They decide to grow old in America, and they have a son who goes to Harvard University. They meet other Bengalis, and the story ends as the narrator tells us he has been living there for 30 years.
The Namesake starts by showing the train crash of the father of Gogol. Then, it shows his marriage with the woman that he doesn’t know at all. They then move to America and have a child. The child grows up basically as an American person and the parents get concerned with some of the things that he does (for example, listening to rock music very loudly). They meet other Bengalis in America too, and they become good friends with them. Gogol gets a girlfriend who is American and Gogol becomes an architect. Gogol moves away with her and his parents always have trouble reaching him, even on his birthday. Gogol’s father dies so he cuts his hair really short, and he breaks up with his American girlfriend. He later meets a Bengali girl and they really like each other and they get married eventually. They even talk about the names of their children. Later, Gogol finds out that she had been having an affair with another man, and we do not know what happened between them after that. That is where the story finished.
An obvious theme that is in both stories is moving from India to America permanently. In both of the stories, the characters start out in India, and then end up in America with their wives and stay there permanently. In both stories, they are unhappy at first and find it hard to adapt but then they end up happier as the story progresses.
Another similar theme in both the stories is getting married in a wedding that is arranged by their families. In both the stories, the couples have difficulty having a close relationship with each other.
Personally, I prefer the movie version, but this is probably only because I prefer watching movies to reading.
I am going to compare the movie “The Namesake” with the book the “Third and Final Continent. The movie came out in 2006. Both the script for the movie and the story are created by Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian author, who was born in July 1967.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning narrator leaves India to travel to England with the SS Roma. There he studies for some time. Then his marries Mala. The marriage is arranged in Calcutta by his family when he is thirty-six years old. Around the same time he is offered a full time job in America. Without his wife Mala, who stays in Calcutta, he goes to the States. There in America he meets Mrs. Croft. He rents a house from her for 8 dollars per week. The woman is really old, around 103 years old which the narrator didn’t know first. Every evening he sits with her on the bench and does the same things. She begins to talk about the flag on the moon, and he has to say “Splendid” but she wants to hear it louder and louder. Also he needs to check the locks. Helen, Mrs. Croft’s daughter, comes every week to bring her some soup and tells the narrator about her old mother. When Mala finally comes she is very traditional about India and doesn’t like America she also doesn’t know anything about her husband but that changes in soon when Mrs. Croft says that Mala is a perfect lady. Mala and the narrator laugh about that. But later he moves with Mala to a bigger house and he has to leave Mrs. Croft but she isn’t sad about it at all. Later Mrs. Croft dies and she reminds him of his mother and sometimes he drives his car past the house of Mrs. Croft.
The movie “The Namesake” is about a man Ashoke. One day he takes a train to leave India, it crashes. Ashoke was in the train reading a book of Nicolai Gogol when he crashed people saw the wounded ashoke with his book in his hand. He named his son (who would be born later) Gogol. After the crash Ashoke marries an Indian woman called Ashima and they move to America together. They have two children: a boy, called Gogol, and a girl, Then the film shows the characters 20 years later when both children are grown ups. Gogol is in the 20’s he doesn’t like his name and he calls himself nick. He has a no Indian girlfriend Maxine but when his father dies of a heart attack he shaves his hair because that’s what they do when the father dies. He lives with his mom and gets an argument with Maxine so they break up. Later his mother arranged a wedding to an Indian girl but she cheats on him with a French man named Pierre. They break up and his mother moves to India to sing. So she spends half of the year there the story ends.
One theme common to both movie and story is that the characters moved from India to America. They wanted to live in America with their wives. They didn’t like it in the beginning but they got to used to all the things what was different but later they were used to how the things go in America.
The second theme what they have common is about the love in the story and movie. In both of the stories’ they are getting married with an Asian woman who they actually don’t know.
My thoughts about the movie, it was really good and it was interesting too look how it goes in a country like India. The movie had a different look then the book but they had a few things in common. The book was a bit confusing but still nice to read with each other in class.
Anne-mieke
“The Third and Final Continent” and “The name sake” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Both “The Third and Final Continent” and the Film adaptation of “The name sake” hold many similarities.
ReplyDeleteThe Story of “The Third and Final Continent” Is written about an Indian man who travels to England on a ship called the SS Roma. He lives in a house with a few Bengali men. His parents have arranged him a marriage with a woman called Mala she is also a Bengali like the narrator after the wedding he travels to the USA and his new wife stays behind whilst she gets her Visa and yellow card. When the narrator first arrives in America he stays in a YMCA. Soon he finds rented accommodation it is a room he rents from a ancient lady who is somewhat mentally ill when he talks to her she repeats the same conversation every time and demands that he yell splendid. Then he moves away to a small apartment when his wife arrives and they live their lives get used to each other and have a child together then the book ends.
The film Namesake starts by looking at a past event a train crash that the Ashoke was in. The film then goes to the current date where he is going to his arranged marriage. He is to be married to a woman called Ashima After the wedding Ashoke travels to the USA where he gets a small house soon his wife comes over and lives with him they get used to each other and after some time have two children. They did not know what to call their first child so Ashoke names him after his favorite author Gogol this is to be his pet name and they wait for the grandmother to name him his normal name but it takes awhile for her to reply so the name Gogol stays. At school he requests to be called Gogol his pet name instead of his other name Nikhil. Later in Gogol’s live when he is a teenager he decides to change his name to Nick. He dicides that he wants to become an architect and the film jumps to when he is 20 he is with a American girl called Macine. He is friendly with her parents and he takes her to meet his parents but his mother is slightly disapproving because he did not marry an Indian. His farther tells Gogol about the train crash and that he was reading a book by Gogol when it happened and the book saved his live because when they were looking for survivors they saw the pages of the book moving. So after this Ashoke moves away because of work in another city and he dies from a heart attack. Gogol is greatly affected by this and shaves his head and decides to live with his mother again he falls out with Maxine and they break up. Soon Gogol dose what his mother requests of him and he is arranged to marry a Indian woman but a while after their marriage she cheats on him with a French man. The story ends where Ashima decides to move back to India and quit her job.
The Indian culture is shown in both the film and the book. We see Gogol shave his head because of the death of his farther and we see the marriage rituals. In the Third and Final Continent we hear about the bracelets and robes that Mala wears.
Anouther theme is migration and this is pleasant in both because Ashoke and the narrator from the stories both travel from their home country and have children not in their native country. Also traveling has a large impact in the lives for example how they react to the new environment and In the Name Sake the get racist comments sprayed onto their mail box.
It is interesting that both the third and final Continent and the Name sake have lots of similarities about the stories are still different even thought the characters are very much the same.
Nathan Back