Blog Post #2
My name, Harris Green, ties me to my cultural and religious background as a Jew. It is Jewish tradition to name your children after a family member who has passed to retain their memory. I was named after my great grandfather "Harry" and although I barely knew him, I enjoy being named after him. My parents always describe him as a hard working man who viewed being Jewish as very important. He would have Shabbat dinners every Friday night with his family. Carrying his memory with me through my name affects how I want to live my life. It has made me value my religion and the importance of family as well as the importance of having a strong work ethic.
In "The Name is Mine," Anna Quindlen tells of her choice to keep her maiden name, rather than taking her husband's name when they married. She remarks, "my name works fine for one half, not quite as well for the other. I would never give it up". Keeping her maiden name works for the part of her who wants to have her own identity but does not work with the part of her life where she has a husband and two sons. Similarly, in the epic poem Beowulf, the main character Beowulf struggles internally with the dilemma posed by being an individual and, at the same time, a part of a larger whole. Beowulf, as a part of a larger whole, is seen as a fearless and powerful leader to everyone around him. Over time however, Beowulf no longer views himself as almighty and foresees his death with his battle against the dragon. This creates the dilemma of the public creating expectations Beowulf will not meet; similarly when Anna did not meet the public's expectation to take her husband's last name.
In my life, I have experienced the moment of awareness where I realized that my individual identity clashes with the public's expectations of me. I have realized that as a female, the public expects me to want to start my own family in the future and more specifically with my religious background, marry a nice jewish boy. This expectation clashes with my desires to be career minded and travel the world for a large portion of my life as well as marrying whomever I want. Although my ideal future is subject to change, it is the non communicated expectation of what my path of life should consist of which frustrates me.
Good job on connecting Anna Quidlen's article to Beowulf. I think that it is important to recognize how there are two parts to everyone, and who we appear as to a larger group of people might not be who we actually are. I think that it is interesting how powerful a name can be to someone. Your name seems very influential to who you are as a person. Do you think the way you see yourself, and the way you want to live your life would change if you weren't named after your great grandfather? I like how you mentioned that individual identity's can clash with who the public and maybe even our families might expect us to be.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your perspective on what names suggest about a person because most people did not connect their blog back to the story of Beowulf. I think that you could contrast yourself to Beowulf because he fulfills the stereotype that his people want him to be, but you seem to steer away from being who everyone expects you to be. I also loved how you mostly discussed expectations in society dealing with your name because I feel that this is something people do absentmindedly but it should be worked on. I wonder what would occur if you hadn't been expected to marry a Jewish boy, would you feel more compelled to do so? This blog is very relatable to most people because I believe that we all have expectations that are never filled, but that makes us who we are today.
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