Quote 16
And then the house will be occupied by strangers, and there will be no trace that they were ever there, no house to enter, no name in the telephone directory. Nothing to signify the years his family has lived here, no evidence of the effort, the achievement it had been. (10.11)
For most of the novel, Gogol avoids going home to his family's house because of his conflicted feelings about his Indian heritage. Now that it's about to disappear, he appreciates it for the first time. Is it too little too late?
Quote 17
It is as Nikhil that he loses his virginity at a party at Ezra Stile, with a girl wearing a plaid woolen skirt and combat boots and mustard tights. (5.33)
Gogol can only get up the confidence to hit on girls with his new name, Nikhil. Is that because he thinks the name Gogol is just plain unattractive, or because a new identity makes him bolder?
Quote 18
He cannot imagine coming from such parents, such a background, and when he describes his own upbringing it feels bland by comparison. (5.52)
The first girls Gogol dates are not Indian, and it is their American-ness that attracts him. This particular girl, for example, is from Maine and has divorced parents, which would be unthinkable in Bengali society, so to Gogol it's exciting and exotic.