What's the use of names?

'I like them when they can talk,' Alice said. None of them ever talk, where I come from.'

'What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?' where you come from?' The Gnat inquired.

'I don't rejoice in insects at all,' Alice explained, because I'm rather afraid of them - at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the names of some of them.'

'Of course they answer to their names?' the Gnat remarked carelessly.

'I never knew them to it.'

'What's the us of them having names,' the Gnat said, 'if they won't answer to them?'

'No use to them,' said Alice; 'but it's useful to the people that name them, I suppose. If not, why do things have names at all?'

The Gnat and Alice make good points. Why do we care so much about naming and our own name? I do get my name mixed up often. Something I wish it wasn't the case.

I laugh at myself when confronted with the question at the Doc. office, "what's your name?" my respond is, "aaaahhhh Diana."

At twelve years old I had to make a decision about my name after moving to the States. Should I have people pronounce it the English or the Spanish way. They say a name is what makes you "you." It is suppose to give you an identity and a sense of self.

I love how this blog entry doesn't have any sound. How is anyone suppose to know if I am saying Diana in Spanish or English? I am glad that at least in words my name could stay the same.

Alice later on goes into the woods where nothing has a name. She is not even able to remember her own, which made her panic. Names do make us feel comfortable and do give us a sense of belonging. My name is a reflection of how I often feel, I am between two cultures.

There are many other quotes from both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass that I hope to write down so I do not forget. Despite the allegations about Lewis Carroll, I have to say, he was brilliant.

Anyhow, in case you missed this on NPR, I suggest you listen to it. It is about Prairie dogs giving us a name.



*Carroll, L. (2001), Through the Looking Glass. New York: Bloomsbury. (Original Work published 1871).