What's in a Name?

[Cynthia Stults]

I was entirely ignorant of Japan's occupation of Korea. When the Japanese teacher in Lost Names apologizes and says that the British didn't even ask that those they ruled over in India to change their names, and how the children were physically punished if they used the wrong name was striking. The closest connection I could make was that of slaves in the Southern United states, in which the slaves were given names by their masters and took on their last name. This really made me question as to why it was so important to the Japanese that the Koreans change their names. Our name defines who we are. When Dr. Jung-Kim revealed that Koreans don't change their name even when they marry, it made even more sense. I suspect that the Japanese thought that if they were able to take away the Koreans' names, that eventually they would entirely submit to the will of the Japanese.

In When my Name was Keoko, the uncle goes to change the flag and name of the Korean gold medal marathon finisher on the newspapers. When he appears very willing to suffer the violent consequences of his actions, it very much reminded me of John Proctor in The Crucible, when he admits that he cannot falsely confess to his supposed crimes, because he must sign his name to the confession and his name is all he has, it made me realize that the connection to our names is a universal theme.