We all remember the famous lines from Romeo and Juliet:
"What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"
Similar to the tragic love story, The Invention of Wings acknowledges the weight behind a name.
Firstly, one of the things I noticed is that the slaves all have two names, one indicating how the white man perceives them and the other signifies how they see themselves. The one given by the master is usually more formal, and shows the formality of the relationship between the two. The tension between the two is then demonstrated by the name they use in front of the whites, and how a slave cannot be themselves, instead must be on their best behavior constantly. Meanwhile, the "basket names" are created bases on how the mother feels in the moment.
Secondly, during the first time we see Sarah's point of view, there is a contrast between how she calls her
biological mom "Mother" and the slave who practically raised her as "mauma" (8). This implies that Sarah feels more comfortable around the slaves than her own family, and foreshadows that her views may be more similar to theirs, for she was raised by them.
"What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"
Similar to the tragic love story, The Invention of Wings acknowledges the weight behind a name.
Firstly, one of the things I noticed is that the slaves all have two names, one indicating how the white man perceives them and the other signifies how they see themselves. The one given by the master is usually more formal, and shows the formality of the relationship between the two. The tension between the two is then demonstrated by the name they use in front of the whites, and how a slave cannot be themselves, instead must be on their best behavior constantly. Meanwhile, the "basket names" are created bases on how the mother feels in the moment.
Secondly, during the first time we see Sarah's point of view, there is a contrast between how she calls her
biological mom "Mother" and the slave who practically raised her as "mauma" (8). This implies that Sarah feels more comfortable around the slaves than her own family, and foreshadows that her views may be more similar to theirs, for she was raised by them.