Gogol’s needs to search of Identity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake: Viewed From Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

ABSTRACT

Literature is a term used to express human’s experience. It is written not only for enjoyment or entertainment but also for information because it really reflects events which happen in the real life which is written based on human’s life which is factual or imaginative. In this case, the researcher takes one of the works of literature, it is The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The Namesake is a story about the life of an immigrant family who live in America. The Namesake presents the needs to search of identity of the main character. The story also shows the main character’s feeling about his strange name.

This research has two statements of problem, the first what are Gogol’s needs to search of identity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake? And the second is what does Gogol feel about his identity described in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake? In this research, the researcher analyzes The Namesake novel to achieve the objectives of the study.

The objectives of the research are first to know Gogol’s needs to search of identity described in The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri viewed from the theory of hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow.and second is to find Gogol’s feeling about his identity. The research observed by theory of Hierarchy of Human Needs by Abraham Maslow focuses on the hierarchy of needs consists of Physiological Needs, Safety Needs, Love and Belonging Needs, Esteem Needs and Self- Actualization Needs.

From this research, two findings can be stated as the answer of the statements of problem, the first is Gogol’s needs to search of identity; they are love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. The second is Gogol’s feeling about his name; Gogol feels strange, confused, unconfident and disappointed because of his identity or his name.