What Do People Think When They Hear Your Name?

 

One of the most fundamental events in a person's life is being given a name. This continues to be the way the person is identified through their life. Initially is just a way to address the child but as time passes it gains more meaning and represents the person's experiences, beliefs, and actions. The name comes to symbolize an individuals identity.After the person's demise it is only the name that prevails.

At the start of the play, Reverend Parris is eager to discover what transpired in the forest the night before with his daughter and Abigail. He wants to know if the story Abigail is telling is true. Abigail continues to scream that it is, but he questions her credibility. Since Abigail was fired from the Proctor's residence, Parris wonders if Abigail has a bad reputation. She adamantly replies, "There be no blush about my name!” During Puritanical times in Salem a person’s reputation and by proxy their name was very important. To them their reputation served to categorize the people. For example, when Goody Nurse enters the scene she is met with respect. The people value her and her opinion because she has been a benefactor for the people. Her name is revered. On the contrary, when Proctor enters and speaks, his opinion is not valued as much. His inconsistent church attendance underscores his bad reputation. His name, embodying his faults, causes him to not be respected. Ironically, throughout the play, Proctor is truly the only man who knows what is happening. But since his opinions are not valued- because of his soiled name- the people continue to ignore them. 

Although people have one given name, depending on their behavior, they can be called by different names that represent their actions. This name can come to hold just as much importance. During the court room scene Proctor chooses to "cast away his good name". He does this by calling Abigail a "whore". As this scene transpires one can see the pain that Proctor goes through. Proctor has an internal struggle between preserving his reputation and ending the witchcraft hysteria. He chooses to help the village, but he rings "doom" upon his own name by revealing the lechery he has committed. He does this because Abigail, a young female, is able to manipulate the whole village’s beliefs and actions. Proctor wants to put an end to this, so he tries to destroy her reputation- her name. 

When one invokes the names of figures from the past one uses their names. But it is interesting as most people have never met the person. When they speak the name they are not talking about the person, but they are talking about their attributes. For example, when someone says "George Washington" images of him crossing the Delaware, leading the country, and chopping down a cherry tree come to mind. The name is associated with all the memories of a person. Even after a person dies, their name can live on. But whether it lives on in a positive way like Washington's or in a negative way like Mussolini’s is determined by the actions the person committed during their life. 

A person’s name is a title that is capable of grouping years of learning, actions, and words together. Yet, as exemplified by the Crucible, one small action can ruin a person’s name forever. People are perpetually curious as to what other people say about them, this is because they are trying to ensure that their reputation has not been tarnished.And that bring us to the biggest question of all, what do people say about you?