What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
retain that dear perfection which he owes
without that title!"

Thus philosophizes Juliet on her balcony in perhaps the most famous passage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, referring to the fact that Romeo's surname is that of her family's sworn enemy. Philosophers will argue the validity of her idle comment that a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, and in Anne of Green Gables the heroine (most definitely not a philosopher) makes the amusing and accurate observation, "I don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage."

Be that as it may, I rather wonder if Shakespeare could have written his play the way he did if Romeo's name were any different - or if it would have been half as popular. "The Tragedy of Gerald and Hepzibah" fails to pull any heartstrings in me. In Scripture a name frequently reflected something about the character of its possessor, such as Solomon's God-given name, Jedidiah, and were chosen with care by the parents to have meaning; sometimes they referred to circumstances of the child's birth (Jacob, for instance), or to appearance (as in Esau), or to some great deed that was foretold about the child's life (most notably Jesus Himself). Occasionally in Scripture there is also revealed the special name by which God called a man, as in the name Jedidiah or the covenant names God gave to His people.

In fact, the answer to Juliet's question is that there is a great deal more in a name than she would think. Names, as much in fiction as in real life, are very important and carry with them strong images; and writers, as much as parents, often face a challenge in naming their characters. Sometimes a character will present himself or herself and have a name already...and sometimes they don't. More's the pity. But if the latter is true, names are too important in a story to allow any writer to just skim over a list of baby names and pick one that sounds interesting, for characters have a tendency to rebel when their name does not reflect their character.

There are several interesting ways to find a fitting name for a character. One is to recognize that letters, as well as names, come with at least a vague impression of the sort of person who might have a name starting with that. M's, for instance, are often applied to villains (Morgoth, Morgan le Fay) and seems to fit that role. If you can consider what sort of a personality your nameless character possesses, sometimes you can find a letter, or a couple letters, that especially fit - thereby narrowing down the list of names to go through.

Another way is to take into account the meanings of names; taking whatever you already know about the personality of Unnamed, you can find names by their meanings and pick one that sounds right and fits. The meaning of whatever name your character has can often play into a story - sometimes this is planned, and sometimes it is completely unintentional.

And then there is the third way, usually necessary for the most elusive characters who are simply too shadowy to fulfill any of the requirements for the above options: go to a source and start searching through names, taking into account both letter-imagery and meanings as you go. I've found it the most tedious way to go, but sometimes nothing else will work.

Light in the Darkness

A little while back I wrote a blog post on "Christian" fiction and the often shallow messages and themes in that genre of writing, and the tendency of such literature to be pure moralizing from start to finish. Most of the Christian novels put out by presses nowadays are fairly cookie-cutter in plot and content - generally romances with preachy overtones and simplistic themes, packaged in fluff - and these were the sorts of novels I discussed. They are the kinds of books that go down like cotton candy and have no meat in them to edify the reader, believer or unbeliever.

But there is also another branch of "Christian" fiction that is almost the polar opposite of the Fluffy Romance genre, with more dramatic themes, darker twists and turns, and more challenging morality. On a shelf they can be picked out from their romantic counterparts quite easily, often having deep, dark colors in contrast to the sunny landscapes depicted on the romance novels, and in this case one can judge the book by its cover. These books often seem (and sometimes are) more powerful than the other type of "Christian" fiction because they tend to wrestle with more complicated matters, with problems that force the reader to think rather than to mindlessly absorb.

However, these books are not necessarily much healthier than the romances. They do at first seem to deserve more respect than the other type of novels I discussed; after all, even if in the end the reader disagrees with the story, at least it makes them think. But the more one does think about it, the more I think it comes to light that the worth of such novels is as questionable as in their sugary counterparts. These stories challenge, certainly, but their very challenges only serve to muddy the moral waters, to filter the light, to blur the line between good and evil. They wrestle with weighty moral problems, to be sure, but often give no firm foundation for the conclusion - if there is a conclusion at all. The result simply is, and the reader is left to think what they will.

Now, to a degree, every story will be like this: writers cannot force their readers to agree with their conclusions. But a lack of foundation will make the morality of an entire story crumble, and the result will be confusion. If Good and Evil are not starkly revealed by the end, there will be very little light in the darkness. Stories like this, while they may be engaging and interesting to read, are unhealthy, and perhaps dangerous, in large quantities. We live in an age where right and wrong are what the viewer makes them to be, where evil is not truly evil, darkness is not truly darkness. While it is true that not all things in life are obviously black and white and the starkness of good and evil may vary depending on the story, Christians should take care not to obscure the line between one and the other, or they will remove the basis for any message they wish to carry through.

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)