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Identity In By Any Other Name, By Samantha Rama Rau

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When it comes to the topic of identity, many people believe others shouldn’t try to change their peers, and their peers shouldn’t try to change others because it can change their sense of personality. And this is expressed in two different but yet similar in theme stories. In the short story By any Other Name, written by Samantha Rama Rau, there were two sisters that were recently just moved to a new British-run school, they are Indian and are very nervous to go to a school with primarily British kids. But first they have to go to the main desk and talk to the teacher. When they walk into the room and introduce themselves to the teacher, the teacher then states, “‘Oh, my dears, those are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names. …show more content…

Here, the teacher expresses the tone of dishonor by wanting the sisters to change their names. This helps develop the identity of the two sisters, by proving to them that identity is not only your name but the value of it and what it represents. So when someone tries to change your name it can hurt you and a different level, but the teacher doesn’t just want a new name but she wants them to act differently as well. And especially to young people this kind of change can affect them deeply and change their sense of personality. In the short story Two Brothers, written by Leo Tolstoy are two men that are brothers went hiking and come across a situation that makes them eventually have to make different choices that lead to different paths and different ways of happiness. After their long long journey and long time of no contact thy meet again and when they do the younger brother says to the elder, “‘I do not regret having gone into the forest and up the mountain,’ replied the younger brother. "I may have nothing now, but I shall always have something to remember, while you have no memories at all.’”(Tolstoy

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