Names/Nombres Literary Analysis

Name/Nombres Theme Essay

In life, many people try to change their identity to fit in with other people. In doing so, you may not be true to yourself and could lose touch with who you really are. In the story Names/Nombres by Julia Alvarez, Julia is a girl who moved to New York City from the Dominican Republic and is having trouble fitting in with her Dominican name. She learns to adapt to her new surroundings by going by new nicknames and minimizing her heritage. My essay will prove that it doesn't matter what people call you because you will still be the same person.

One theme illustrated in Names/Nombres is that what people call you shouldn’t change who you are. In the narrative, Julia is a girl who has moved from the Dominican Republic to New York City with her family. When there, many people pronounce her and her family’s names wrong. For example, right when her family had arrived, the immigration officer had pronounced her father’s name, Mister Elbures, wrong. The text states, “I was too afraid we wouldn’t be let in if I corrected the man’s pronunciation, but I said our name to myself, opening my mouth wide for the organ blast of the a. trilling my tongue for the drumroll of the r, All-vab-rrr-es!” (Paragraph 1). At first Julia wants to correct the officer for pronouncing her father’s name wrong, but then she repeats it to herself, reminding her how sweet the name actually is. She is apprehensive that their original names will be forgotten with everybody pronouncing and changing them. She realizes that it doesn't matter what people call you with her mother reminding her, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” (Paragraph 4). Both of these examples demonstrate to Julia that she should not be concerned when people mispronounce her name. As a result, Julia is encouraged by her parents example that people pronouncing your name wrong doesn’t change who you are.

One theme illustrated in Names/Nombres is that what people call you shouldn’t change who you are. In the narrative, many people pester Julia with questions about her name and heritage. For example, in Julia’s first years in the states her classmates ask her about where she is from and to say her full spanish name. The text states, “No,” I sighed. “From the Dominican Republic.” “Where’s that…” (Paragraph 21 and 22). The other students also begged her to say her dominican name, “Say your name in spanish, oh, please say it!” (Paragraph 25). At first, Julia is happy for the attention, but then she feels embarrassed that the other students don’t understand her culture, as you see when it says, “They were just being curious, I knew, but I burned with shame whenever they singled me out as a “foreigner,” a rare, exotic friend.” (Paragraph 24). As a result to these actions Julia is losing her will to be “in” the Dominican culture, as it shows when the text states, “My initial desire to be known by my correct Dominican name faded. I just wanted to by Judy and merge with the Sallys and the Janes in my class.” (Paragraph 16) In this part of the story, Julia is starting to shy away from her original name because she is uneasy when the other students call attention to her heritage. Later in the story, Julia will learn to embrace her many names because she realizes that it doesn’t matter what people call you as you will still be the same person.

As you can see, one of the themes in Names/Nombres is that it is okay to go by different names, but try not to forget who you truly are. At the end of the story, Julia is happy that she has so many names when her friends from highschool sign her yearbook with her many nicknames and they have a great time doing so. Even though she is embracing her nicknames she still appreciates her heritage and original name. I would encourage you not to let what people call you affect the way you see yourself. I used to not like it when other people called me by nicknames, but then I realized that it was fun to have different names with different people because their would be a story behind each name. And remember, like Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.¨