A prediction on Maxine's and Gogol's relationship

I do not believe that Maxine (Max) and Gogol will continue throughout the novel to have a relationship.  Maxine and her family show little respect towards Gogol.  An instance of when this happens is on the first date, when Lydia (Maxine's mother) shows little respect that Gogol started to expect because of his culture.  This event was Lydia not watching Gogol's plate, and offering him more food.  In the text, Gogol compares this experience to when his parents have guests over and his mother is constantly concerned with the guests unlike Maxine's.  Another reason to suspect that this relationship will not last long is that Gogol becomes a part of Max's family but Maxine doesn't become apart of Gogol's family.   The importance behind both of them becoming apart of each other's family is to have a balanced relationship.  The thought that continues to circle around my mind is when will Gogol realize that he and Maxine do not make a good couple.

Should Gogol have changed his name?

Gogol renaming himself Nikhil, represents Gogol's change in character.  I agree with him; Gogol changing his name before he goes off to college and after his years at home was a decision well made by him.  When changing his name legally, he doesn't change being called Gogol from his friends from his childhood and his family.  The importance of keeping his pet name Gogol around him, is because childish name, Gogol, is still apart of him.  The new, sleek, and confident name, Nikhil, is a new part of Gogol that shows how his character changes.  An example of Gogol being effected by his new name is the first time he uses it.  In this experience for him, Gogol uses the confidence he gets from his name to talk to a girl.  Another reason I agree with Gogol changing his name is that is that he directly states to the judge who changes his name legally that he hates the name Gogol.  I believe everyone has the right to their own opinion.  Being that Gogol strongly dislikes the name Gogol, he should not have to live with it.  I believe Gogol should have changed his name because of his preference and change of personality

Becoming an American

Gogol practices and becomes a part of the American culture more than his parents, Ashima and Ashoke.  On Page seventy-five, the reader learns some new, American habits Gogol does like occasionally addressing his parents in English, and sometimes using a fork at dinner.  Both, using a fork at dinner, and speaking in English to his parents are habits that many Americans, including myself, do.  Around the same point in time, Gogol had a thirteenth birthday party with just his American friends, and then, another party with Bengali people.  Ashima becomes more stressed for the party with Gogol's American friends than the Bengali party which expresses to the reader her comfort level with people from her own culture versus people from another culture.
To extend this topic a little further, is the question whether Gogol practicing and becoming a part of American culture a good or bad thing he that he should be doing?  After reflecting on the question, I believe that Gogol practicing American culture to the extent that he continues at during a highschool year, is good because he has to grow up in America and find a job there.  Knowing the culture to a place where one has to work, is important so that person can keep a job and support themselves and getting along with people.  Practicing the American culture to extent that Gogol is,  leaves a smaller amount of room to practice Benglais culture which is important because it is apart of who Gogol is

Ashima's Grandmother's opinion on Ashima living in Amerca

Ashima's grandmother would be proud of Ashima if she lived beyond the point of when Ashima and Ashoke started adopting American traditions.  On Page thirty-eight, Ashima's Grandmother directs Ashima to do what her grandmother would never do, saying that it'll be for the best.  Assuming that Ashima's grandmother was a traditional Bengali woman who stayed at home, took care of the family, and followed Bengali traditions, she would not have taken the risks or experimented with a new culture as Ashima is having to do.  Although, she never traveled to America as far as the readers know, she believed that Ashima was making the best choices in doing so. On page thirty-seven, the text states that Ashima's grandmother "was the only person to predict, rightly, that Ashima would never change," (The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, page 37).  Ashima did change by adopting American traditions such as Christmas, but she did continue to uphold a Bengali culture in her household by sending Gogol and Sonia to Bengali cultured classes.  If Ashima's grandmother was living when Ashoke and Ashima started practicing American traditions, she would believe that Ashima has changed to adapt to her new surroundings which is doing something for the best of her family who are living in America.

Indian Relationships to American Relationships

Within the first few pages in the novel the namesake, Ashima and Ashoke compare their relationship to American relationships.  Ashima hears another man standing by another woman's bed saying "I love you, sweetheart" (the namesake by jhumpa lahiri).  The text is direct when stating that this is not what would happen in Ashima's and Ashoke's relationship.  Another difference between the relationships of Americans and Indians from the novel, American and Indian pregnant women have very different support systems set up when they are in labor.  From Ashima's view, the American culture consists of the husband and the doctors aiding the woman and being the support system. In the Indian culture, Ashima notes that the immediate family of the woman provides the support system.  Although there are many noted differences between the relationships, there are also similarities which Ashoke and  Ashima can't see from their perspective or the author chooses not to include.  One example of the similarities is the attention to detail that Ashoke and Ashima have towards each other like Ashima's detail about how Ashoke prefers his food salty.  I believe many American relations show there concern for one snore by picking up small details that the average person wouldn't notice about their spouse or loved one.  Another detail that was not thoroughly emphasized was the anxiousness of the father.  Both American fathers waiting and Indian fathers show their anxiety differently, maybe by reading a book or smoking a cigarette.  The inclusion of the differences of the types of relationships and not as much on the similarities add to the feeling loneliness that comes up in the first part of w novel

A Name is Only a Title Page to Someone

Names. Literally, names are sounds and a bunch of letters put together that we, being people who speak the same language and live surrounded in the same culture, associate with a person or animal.  They make it easier to distinguish from person from person.  But they are not all factors that distinguished us.  Most cases, parents give us names and we learn to adopt them for our own personalities and characters.  Thus, for many people their name comes from their family, an influential part of someone's life.  When stating the sentence above, a name doesn't have to be a full name that is given to someone at birth. A nickname given to someone by a family like a sports team is another example of the sentence above.  A name comes from a factor that distinguishes us. A factor that someone chose to signify you

How symbolism helps create theme

The symbolism in the novel In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez significantly helps to develop a theme in the book.  Butterflies were symbols for the Mirable sisters which was given to them by  rebellion.  Butterflies are beautiful creatures that soar high and inspire many.  The Mirable sisters acted as butterflies in the novel and soared high by helping to lead the rebellion against Trujillo.  The sisters also inspired many as shown all the way through the novel until the end when Dedé shares with the reporter their story.  These symbols in the novel help to develop a theme similar to one must reach for their dreams.
Another example of symbolism in the novel is Patria's house, built on a rock and then destroyed.  Her house represented her life by the way of she built her life to be sturdy in the beginning with a husband who had a steady income, a religious base, and a simple family of the two parents and two children.  Then, Patria joined the rebellion and her life became a wreck. Her family was in ruins and she even went to jail herself.  This example of symbolism helps to develop a theme similar to the sentence that life changes even when not expected, and one must adjust to those changes to live.

Comment #1 for In the time of the Butterflies

The tone in the novel "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez helps the reader to characterize each of the Mirable sisters.
When Patria narrates the story, she uses a sincere and reflective tone which gives her a caring and reflective personality.  She shows her caring personality on page 221 in the quote "I offered Our Lord to take me instead of my Nelson."  This quote shows her care through her sincere tone because of her offer of sacrifice for someone else's benefit.  A different quote used on page 220 that presents a a reflective tone and personality is "My first born, my little ram." This is reflective because the subject of the quote is described in two different ways to shows his personality.
Dedé's tone shows her change in personality from harsh and formal to informal and touching.  On the third page in the novel, she is narrating the story using the third person which adds a formality to a piece of writing.  She also narrates with a harsh tone by using the quotes on page 3 "Oh dear, another one," "There's the obligatory interview," and the last sentence of "Doesn't she have seven more months of anonymity?" All of these quotes express an edge to Dedé's personality.  By the end of the novel, on page 321, Dedé narrates in the first person and uses a touching tone to win the quote " ...and I see them all there in my memory."
Minerva's restless tone shows her rebellious attitude towards her life.  On page 85, Minerva describes her feelings with the phrases "roar off into country side" and "set me free." Both of these quotes describe rebellion against staying still at a certain place. In Minerva's story, she rebels against staying at home.
Maria Teresa, the youngest of the four sisters, writes in her diary using a tone that shows her youth and informality.  She is introduced to the reader by her journal entry which starts out by addressing the diary as her friend by using the word "you" to address the diary on page 30 with "Minerva gives you to me."  She continue to address her book using the word "you" throughout the diary and then draws in it as well.  Both the drawings in the diary, and the personification of the diary add to Maria Teresa's childlike characteristics and informality because the use of "you" in a piece of writing is informal and the use of pictures instead of words to describe items or scenes is used in lower grades of school instead of upper.