Weblog #3

Writing Prompt:

"But I put it all happily away because it happened to a girl named Cynthia and I was never particularly interested in her".

               Honestly, I am pretty convinced of this last statement that the author says here. Normally I wouldn't be, but from all the other events that happened throughout the text, I am convinced. Earlier in the story, she talks about how they both got new names. Even though she was given a new name, when she had to introduce herself to the class, she didn't say her name was "Cynthia". She could have said it was, but I think she didn't believe that was her name, so she didn't want to tell the class that it was. Also, for multiple times, she talked about how she just wanted to go home, because she misses the ways her school life used to be. This means that she actually didn't really care about school, and just wanted to go back to the homeschooling with her mom. This helps me to believe that she really didn't care about the "Cynthia" name, that she was given. Considering the title, which was an allusion from Shakespeare, I am convinced of her last statement. The title goes against what Shakespeare said. Shakespeare thought that even though someone was given another name, they would stay just the same. Santha Rau clearly, disagreed strongly about that, and so she wrote a memoir talking about it as well. Not only does she disagree with what she is saying though, but she also must not like him because he is British, and her family raised her letting her know what the British did to them. Some might say that reason right there, is why her last statement would be invalid. Although I think not. She really thinks that if a young one's name is changed, they develop a "dual personality". She mentions how she didn't really like the things that Cynthia had to do, and that being her wasn't very fun. That was kind of her foreshadow moment, leading up to this.