Edward. Ead means wealth, fortune, or prosperous, and weard means guardian or protector. My parents tell me that a pastor gave me that name when I was a baby. This has to be significant, right? I was given a name awesome enough to fit my awesome character; I must have a future filled with wealth, fortune, and prosperity.
In The Crucible, one's name is synonymous with his reputation. For me, I had a huge reputation to hold ever since I was a baby. Basically, I had to be a king and take care of my loyal parents. This did not happen. Everyone in my family labeled me as the cry baby, the trouble maker, the kid no one wanted to take care of. It was really hard to keep my white reputation because my sister was the perfect child. While I was crying, she would be silently sitting. While I ran away from my aunt at the mall, soon to be leashed, my sister calmly held hands with my mom. I would cry for hours when I was hungry or cry for hours when my mom left me or cry for hours if I did not have my PowerRangers backpack with me at all times. My name was ruined by age 3.
But in truth, I didn't ruin my name. My sister did. Sike. Really though, I never had a reputation in the first place. I built this annoying, devilish persona from babyhood to now, and no one considered me a guardian anointed by a holy man. I was shaped by those words into the awesome person I am today. The point I'm trying to get at is a reputation is built; it becomes your identity. Your name is not just some grouping of letters but a bag containing the essence of your being.
i agree, it is up to the individual to make their own name and reputation. your parents can only get you so far but each person has a unique opportunity to leave an imprint on this world
ReplyDeleteVery deep Edward. Great job explaining the essence of naming. You cannot be expected to do something just because you are named after it. It is true that reputation is indeed developed. Nice post :)
ReplyDelete