What's in a Name The Significance of Naming for Ralph Ellison and the Significance of Naming Today
In Shakespeare's famous romantic tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet," thefemale protagonist implores the stars, "What's in a name' A rose by anyother name would smell as sweet'" However, audiences in ages since havemused, no doubt, a stink cabbage might disagree"and could Juliet have lovedher Romeo so much, if he were named Norman, or perhaps even Ralph' No young protagonist of foreign extraction in the United States couldever make such a mistake. He would know all too well the heavy burden'naming' places upon the individual soul and mind. But to glean a betterunderstanding of the importance of naming, perhaps it is best to first turnto another, real-life literary figure, that of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph Ellison would be another one of those nay Sayers, who would tellJuliet that names are quite important. He was born disliking his own nameand even though he eventually came to like the oddity of his name, he wouldnever deny the significance of his 'naming.' According to his 1964 essay"Hidden Name and Complex Fate," his father gave Ellison his name. He wasnamed, not for a family member, but for the nineteenth-century Americanphilosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Ellison 146)
Anindividual with a foreign name might use his or her name as a proud mark ofcultural distinction, proud of the fact that no one but him or herself hasthat name. Lastly, others maydevelop a sense of alienation that is so great they decide to change it. Yet this sense may very well be true, especially if the languagesspoken at these two places are different"or, in Ellison's case, althoughboth environments were English speaking, the vocabulary between the twoenvironments of home and school were quite different. (Ellison146-147) How could Ellison establish a connection between himself and thisother individual, from a far-off era in American history and from aliterary body of work that the young Ellison had no intrinsic connection toas a Black man' Thus, Ellison had a complex relationship with his name. However, Ralph Ellison could neverreally fit in-he was more educated than many of his African American peers,yet he was still an African American, standing outside, somewhat, ofAmerican life and letters. Later, his name weighted like a heavy burdenupon him, as if he had been born not into a family, but into a set oflarger obligations and expectations to his race and to American literature. Muhammad may become Mike in school, and only be known by his given nameamongst his family. He was embarrassed by the oddity of hisname when he was young, he said. Forinstance, a family may confer upon an individual a name that is quitecommon within his or her own cultural context. This is relatively unremarkable within thesecultural contexts, although the boy or girl might be aware of familymembers whom also bore these same names. If one's name is an object of ridicule ormistrust, if every time one is recognized as an individual, the label onecalls one's entire self into question, then it is difficult to have a fullsense of self-confidence and inclusion in a community. Secondly, he was given a namethat had no familial connection to his father or to his immediate family. But strange or foreign names can also be a burden. He couldnever simply accept his name as a given. Even someone withan everyday name can feel the burden of being named after a family memberwith a tragic or bright personal history.
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