Naming in Beloved
In Beloved, we see 2 characters who declare their own names, these being Baby Suggs and Stamp Paid. They are both former slaves, changing their names at some point after they are freed. Baby Suggs names herself because Suggs was her husband's name, and he always called her Baby. She holds on to the hope that he will somehow show up in Cincinnati, and she is afraid that he won't recognize her if not for her name. Stamp Paid also creates his own name, for an even more tragic reason. His wife is taken from him by the son of his slave master. He wants to kill someone, even himself, but his wife convinces him to stay calm, telling him that he needs to be there when she gets free. Stamp Paid views the loss of his wife as a kind of payment to all slave owners, and he decides that he no longer owes anything to them. Hence the name, Stamp Paid. There is a very interesting contrast between the way the 2 characters name themselves, despite similar circumstances. Overall, it is easy to say...