Donald Lewis
11/18/08
CNF 3211
Campbell
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
What is in a name? In the most simple of definitions, a name is a label for a noun. However, the name of a person comes to mean much more. A person’s name becomes their essence. Eventually, their name comes to embody or signify what that person stands for and represents, during their lifetime. Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, and Jeffery Dahmer are some unique and infamous names found in history. In contrast Jesus Christ of Nazareth and Abraham Lincoln are a bit less infamous. If I said Tupac Shakur or Rick James, what would immediately come to your mind? All of the aforementioned names bring immediate thoughts to one’s head. For instance, one may think of tyranny when it comes to the name Saddam Hussein, if you grew up anywhere outside of Iraq (I have come to learn some people in Iraq loved Saddam). At the same time, another may think of murder and cannibalism, when they hear the name Jeffery Dahmer. While the name, Jesus Christ of Nazareth may invoke thoughts of a savior and emotions of salvation.
The unique thing is that people generally associate certain emotions with particular names because of what they signify and represent within our minds. People have come to associate certain names with certain feelings and emotions. What if Jeffery Dahmer just so happened to be the name of a well respected Nobel Peace Prize winner? Would the name then be revered and looked upon differently? The world may never know, but it is peculiar how certain thoughts and emotions are wrapped up within our mind. The emotions lie dormant in the corners of one’s mind, but, yet, are released when they hear, that name.
For the longest, I was not too fond of my own name. My name is Donald Allen Lewis, by the way. When I was little, I remember being teased in school about my name. The typical joke was to call me Donald Duck, after the crazy Disney character who talked retarded (to me). I utterly despised the...