The Importance of Family

Gogol is constantly being pressured by his parents. He has very little say over many of the decisions in his life. They hold on so tightly that Gogol eventually pushes back. He chooses not to go to MIT because he wants to be somewhere that won't remind him of his parents. If Ashima and Ashoke had been in India they would be surrounded by family all the time. In America they don't have a large support group. They have other Bengali friends, but it is not the same. Gogol doesn't fully understand this. He is American. He has grown up in a different culture. His parents keep Gogol so close because he and his sister are the only family they have in America. Gogol pushes his family away when all they want is to be there to support him. He doesn't understand that they need him and he also needs them.