"I'm not my name. My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn. I outgrow it, I change it."
-Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl:
A voice that doesn't need a label
I thought that one of the most interesting concepts of this book was the name. This quote really says something about how our names represent us. In Stargirl, she mentions she went by different names at different times. Her name was just a word. The point was that she recognized that her name was only a word. A piece of cloth is just that, a piece of cloth. Notice how cloth has changed the world. Cloth, and in some cases other materials, has built an industry; fashion. You are not your clothes, but you try to make your clothes you. You style is you, but you are not your style. Stargirl thinks of names as the same thing. Her name is like her sense of style, it gets worn, she outgrows, she changes it.
This was such a unique perspective because it's not meant to just reflect names. But it was so intriguing. Our names, our titles, we didn't choose them, how can they reflect who we are? Stargirl has gone by three names previous to the events of of the book. The first is her given name, which she stuck with for years, Susan. The second was Pocketmouse. She chose this name for herself when she was in elementary school. The last is the one she uses during the events of the book, for the most part, Stargirl.
So what was wrong with Susan? Nothing. She just wasn't Susan any more. She became Pocketmouse. Susan was apparently just as connected with the world as Stargirl is, but she wasn't as comfortable. Susan was her parents daughter. Pocketmouse was the name she chose when she had identified with herself. Her parents welcomed the changing of her name because they saw it as growth in their daughter and a new person they could get to know and love. What parent wouldn't want to see their daughter grow and form their own identity separate from their association with their parents.
The book doesn't say much about who Pocketmouse was. All we can tell is that she wasn't like Stargirl. Stargirl was a new personality she grew into. It was great to dig into the meaning of Stargirl's name because names mean something different to her. Our name is something that we our called, how society recognizes us. When she changed her name, she was asking society to recognize who she was, she asks them to recognize her by her personality. She was not her name, her name was her. She doesn't want to be recognized by her face or name, she wanted to recognized for her spirit.
So who was Stargirl? Who was this personality she would embrace and be known as? Her name is Stargirl. At first the instinct was that this was somebody who would be a star, take the stage, and broadcast who she was. She is broadcasted, but it isn't her. She doesn't try to shine brighter than others. Her nae means something different. A star is a little light in the sky. But there are billions. Her name does mean that she's a star, but stars don't light up a sky on their own, it's nothing as self-centered as that, not even remotely. The book says that in many ways she is more us than we are. That's the meaning of her name. Her name is trying to say that we're all stars, she isn't different or more special than us. Her name isn't her shining, it's us shining.
I love this theory on the meaning. I'm not saying it's a possible reason she chose the name. I'm proposing it's the reason the author chose. The theme of the book is very much asking who we really are at heart. It wants us to question if we're like everyone around us, or if we're all aching to dance in the rain. When it hit me as Stargirl meaning us shining, it hit me with a sense of care. That somehow this fictional character could care about me, about us. Why would she? Because she's meant to be an embodiment of our some form of our truest selves.
Our truest selves are just people. Each a little different, but we all have the same deep yearn for love and we all feel a pain at the same time. We suffer constantly, sometimes aware, sometimes not, because there is somebody out there hurting. A little part of us always senses the pain of the world and lets in the light in the lives of others. Humanity isn't a species, it's a force. It may be bounded by a god, or something built into our DNA. Whatever it is, it may be the most important part of us.
We are not our names. Our names, or at least, or truest names, are us. You choose what your name means to people. You choose what your name really is.
What's your name?
A voice that doesn't need a label
I thought that one of the most interesting concepts of this book was the name. This quote really says something about how our names represent us. In Stargirl, she mentions she went by different names at different times. Her name was just a word. The point was that she recognized that her name was only a word. A piece of cloth is just that, a piece of cloth. Notice how cloth has changed the world. Cloth, and in some cases other materials, has built an industry; fashion. You are not your clothes, but you try to make your clothes you. You style is you, but you are not your style. Stargirl thinks of names as the same thing. Her name is like her sense of style, it gets worn, she outgrows, she changes it.
This was such a unique perspective because it's not meant to just reflect names. But it was so intriguing. Our names, our titles, we didn't choose them, how can they reflect who we are? Stargirl has gone by three names previous to the events of of the book. The first is her given name, which she stuck with for years, Susan. The second was Pocketmouse. She chose this name for herself when she was in elementary school. The last is the one she uses during the events of the book, for the most part, Stargirl.
So what was wrong with Susan? Nothing. She just wasn't Susan any more. She became Pocketmouse. Susan was apparently just as connected with the world as Stargirl is, but she wasn't as comfortable. Susan was her parents daughter. Pocketmouse was the name she chose when she had identified with herself. Her parents welcomed the changing of her name because they saw it as growth in their daughter and a new person they could get to know and love. What parent wouldn't want to see their daughter grow and form their own identity separate from their association with their parents.
The book doesn't say much about who Pocketmouse was. All we can tell is that she wasn't like Stargirl. Stargirl was a new personality she grew into. It was great to dig into the meaning of Stargirl's name because names mean something different to her. Our name is something that we our called, how society recognizes us. When she changed her name, she was asking society to recognize who she was, she asks them to recognize her by her personality. She was not her name, her name was her. She doesn't want to be recognized by her face or name, she wanted to recognized for her spirit.
So who was Stargirl? Who was this personality she would embrace and be known as? Her name is Stargirl. At first the instinct was that this was somebody who would be a star, take the stage, and broadcast who she was. She is broadcasted, but it isn't her. She doesn't try to shine brighter than others. Her nae means something different. A star is a little light in the sky. But there are billions. Her name does mean that she's a star, but stars don't light up a sky on their own, it's nothing as self-centered as that, not even remotely. The book says that in many ways she is more us than we are. That's the meaning of her name. Her name is trying to say that we're all stars, she isn't different or more special than us. Her name isn't her shining, it's us shining.
I love this theory on the meaning. I'm not saying it's a possible reason she chose the name. I'm proposing it's the reason the author chose. The theme of the book is very much asking who we really are at heart. It wants us to question if we're like everyone around us, or if we're all aching to dance in the rain. When it hit me as Stargirl meaning us shining, it hit me with a sense of care. That somehow this fictional character could care about me, about us. Why would she? Because she's meant to be an embodiment of our some form of our truest selves.
Our truest selves are just people. Each a little different, but we all have the same deep yearn for love and we all feel a pain at the same time. We suffer constantly, sometimes aware, sometimes not, because there is somebody out there hurting. A little part of us always senses the pain of the world and lets in the light in the lives of others. Humanity isn't a species, it's a force. It may be bounded by a god, or something built into our DNA. Whatever it is, it may be the most important part of us.
We are not our names. Our names, or at least, or truest names, are us. You choose what your name means to people. You choose what your name really is.
What's your name?
MY NAME IS NABILA AND THIS POST IS FABULOUS!
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