A Stranger in a Foreign Country

Jahiri Lahiri

The primary theme in the first chapter of  Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake is alienation in a foreign country. Ashima is aware of the cultural barriers as an Indian in America. These differences make her "terrified to raise a child in a country where she is related to no one, where she knows so little, where life seems so tentative and spare" (Lahiri 6).

The language barrier is evident when Ashima accidentally uses the singular form of "fingers" and "toes" (Lahiri 7). She wants to be able to communicate with other Americans properly considering America will be her new home. When Ashima's husband, Ashoke "stepped behind the curtain" (Lahiri 3) and then  speaks to the American nurse in Bengali, it is symbolic of the Barrier created by speaking Bengali in the United States.

Language Barriers in a Foreign Country

As Ashima lays in the hospital, she hears a man tell his wife "'I love you, sweetheart.' Words Ashima has neither heard nor expects to hear from her own husband" (Lahiri 3). This represents the cultural barriers between Indian and American cultures that make Ashima feel as though she is an outsider in a foreign country.