These lyrics popped into my head during discussion today as we talked about the last line of this book and the class began to debate over our satisfaction with the end of this novel. The class seemed almost perfectly divided with defenders and detesters of Lahiri's closing sentence, "for now, he starts to read"(291). I think that despite our satisfaction with Lahiri's ending choice, Gogol's life, or even the plot of the novel overall, this last line undoubtedly draws a full circle ending that shows Gogol's step towards self improvement and maturity. I felt satisfaction at the end because Gogol seemed to realize that life depicts exactly what you make of it, and he took the conscious effort to mature through reading this important book concerning his identity. Throughout chapter 12, Gogol began to realize that the only person chaining him down and preventing him from finding the key to happiness in his life was himself. In this last line he finally abandoned his resentment of his culture, name, and parents, and he took the first small step and read the book. Lahiri's use of "for now" implies that in order to change, one must take initiative and begin the process, just as Gogol took at the close of this novel. Maybe because I had these lyrics in my head throughout the class, but I felt proud of the main character and hopeful of his future as the book concluded and he came to the realization that he had the key to his chained life and he began towards improvement.
Carolyn, I agree with you. I felt satisfied with the last line, and after I read it I thought back to after Gogol's birth when Ashoke says, "'Only hours old and already the owner of books'" (24). The fact that Gogol finally reads after such a long time emphasizes the long journey of his life and the maturity he experiences through the many "accidents" of is life.
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