What is normal? People say to being normal is easiest by copying others. Don’t try to be someone you are not, fitting in is your own personal decision. People stand out according to how they stand up for who they are. In The Namesake Gogol’s parents are challenged throughout the novel to become Americanized. First, Gogol tries to fit in by not being himself, secondly his parents feel as though Gogol does not embrace his Bengali culture, and lastly, parental expectations hinder us from fitting in. Ashima and Ashoke both came from Calcutta, India. They embrace their culture to the full extent. In the novel one of the external conflicts is Ashima does not like Maxine. They feel as though Gogol and Maxine are moving too quickly. Gogol quickly drops his Bengali culture and becomes Americanized by the Ratliff’s. Gogol is embarrassed by his culture and puts Ashima and Ashoke on the back burner. “He goes shopping with her on Madison Avenue at stores they must be buzzed into, for cashmere cardigans and outrageously expensive English colognes that Maxine buys without deliberation or guilt." (Lahiri 136). This shows how Gogol I trying…show more content… Parents of the Bengali culture are far more strict than those of american culture. Bengali parents will try to control many aspects of their children's lives. It is very hard for parents of Bengali culture to become close to their children. In the book, Parenting Across Cultures it says only 17 percent of mothers sing and talk to their children. Bengali parents are mainly focused on good educations and arranged marriages. "She had been forbidden as a teenager to date." (Lahiri 213). The expectations her parents set are not like those of a normal teenager. Most teenagers these days date, go out, and don't follow in their parents footsteps. Spectators our parents hold for us as american teenagers are very different than those of the Bengali