Our Own Personal Connections to Gogol

During the English 10a classes with Ms. Maxey, the entire class,  including myself, continued to call Gogol by his "pet name" even when he changed his name to Nikhil.  Even the author continued to call Gogol by his "pet name" after he changed his name.   The only people in the story to call Gogol by this name are his friends who he have known since early childhood and family.  Both of these groups of people could be considered loved ones because they share Gogol's childhood memories.  When a person reads a novel, they learn who the characters in a novel are based on what is directly stated about them, the characters actions, and speech.  This is similar to how people have any kind of relationship in real life.  If only one of the people in a relationship share memories, the one person who receives the memories still has a connection with the person sharing them. Since the readers share memories with Gogol and still call him with his pet name, they have a personal connection with Gogol.