Hair is one of the biggest connections between body and identity.
Most aspects of identity as related to the body can't be changed, aspects like height, weight, skin color, or eye color. And these hard-to-change aspects are also typically what mark people as different or other, especially if living in a homogeneous society or community.
But hair is different in that it is the one expression of self that grows out of the body, yet it can be easily changed to reflect or hide one's identity. The choices of how one wants their hair to look--of who one wants to be--are virtually limitless. By cutting, dying, and using certain products and tools in their hair, people are able to change their image and have power over part one crucial part of their identity.
We see an example of this kind of shift in identity, this exercise of power in The Lowland. After attending a party with Subhash that's made up of only other Indians, Gauri exclaims that she doesn't want to be friends or spend time with those women because "I have nothing in common with them" (168). A few days later, Subhash comes home to find "a pair of scissors that he normally kept in the kitchen drawer, along with clumps of [Gauri's] hair" and all of her Indian-style clothing shredded (168). Gauri ached to become more independent and establish a new identity, and one of the first steps in that transformation was cutting her hair. By cutting her hair, Gauri was symbolically cutting ties from her old self and her old life in India--a change that needed to be manifest in a physical sense. Seeing her new hair cut for the first time, Subhash notes "her hair hung bluntly along her jawbone, dramatically altering her face" (168). Not only was Gauri's decision to cut her hair a symbol of her decision to find her own identity in America, but it literally became a physical way to alter who she was, as noted by Subhash.
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Hair is often used as a means to stand out from the crowd, as is proudly proclaimed in the commercial above. "Fade into the background . . . NO WAY!" The commercial is targeting individualism and identity through hair.
On the other hand, some use their hair as a way to create a bond or sameness with those around them, as demonstrated in the commercial below. "Your stubborn curl that you got from your dad and that he got from his mom . . . " Hair is a family history and a declaration of love.
We also see this fight for identity and independence manifested through Gogol's hair in The Namesake. From his popular "Beatle-like bangs that conceal his brows" (75) to later referring to his hair as "brown-black" (98), it's clear that Gogol uses his hair as an opportunity to develop his own identity, whether that means dying his hair or simply following the latest trends to try and fit in with his peers in America. However, this only highlights the irony that Gogol and Sonia's "American haircuts" make them "stand out" (82) when they visit India for the first time. If not for their haircuts and clothing marking them as outsiders, they could have appeared to fit in perfectly in India by virtue of their physical traits alone.
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Although in most books and popular culture, hair is viewed as I've laid out here--a marker of identity, something that either makes you unique or makes you belong--Lahiri uses hair in much more complex and interesting ways to add depth to her novels and characters lives. Return to the main page to explore some of these themes and concepts.