Quote 7
Though there are only inches between them, for an instant his father is a stranger, a man who has kept a secret, has survived a tragedy, a man whose past he does not fully know. (5.87)
When Gogol finds out the source of his name it should be a moment of revelation right? An ah-ha moment, no? He has the chance to better understand his roots and his identity. But instead, he focuses on the fact that father has now become a stranger to him. Why do you think that is?
Quote 8
He didn't want to go home on the weekends, to go with them to pujos and Bengali parties, to remain unquestionably in their world. (6.2)
Unlike his parents, who yearn to be back in the world of their parents and families, Gogol wants to create as much distance between himself and his parents as possible. That means avoiding their foreign customs, which seem to bother Gogol most of all.
Quote 9
At times, as the laughter at Gerald and Lydia's table swells, and another bottle of wine is opened, and Gogol raises his glass to be filled yet again, he is conscious of the fact that his immersion in Maxine's family is a betrayal of his own. (6.54)
Gogol gets absorbed into Maxine's family, where he gets to live out the fantasy of having an Anglo-American family. But why does he have that family in the first place? What is it about his own family that isn't quite up to snuff?