By Any Other Name 'And Apollo'

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Throughout the short stories, “By Any Other Name” by Santha Rama Rau and “Apollo” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, the authors reveal that one persons overriding power can have negative affects on the lives of others. In “By Any Other Name”, a young Indian girl named Santha and her older sister Premila have to attend an Anglo-Indian school in India after their mother’s health declines. The headmistress insists on giving them “pretty” English names, which consequently causes identity problems for Santha, “At that age, if one’s name is changed, one develops a curious form of dual personality.” (Rau 1)Santha explains how as a result of being given a new name, she starts to form duel personalities. By changing her name, the headmistress causes identity issues for Santha and causes her to question who she is. …show more content…

At the end of the story, while Okenwa is afflicted with Apollo, his friend doesn’t come to visit him at all, unlike Okenwa, who visited him everyday while he was qualmish. As soon as Okenwa comes downstairs, he discovers Raphael acting differently as he talks to a girl named Josephine.And so, Okenwa tries to get his attention to converse with him. “‘I’m hungry! Where is my food?’ Josephine’s face puckered, as though she were about to break into slow, long laughter. Raphael said something that I could not hear, but it had the sound of betrayal.” (3 Adiche) After not speaking to him for a few days, Okenwa is desperate to talk with Raphael, his friend. However, Raphael doesn’t acknowledge his presence and tries to impress Josephine by mumbling something Okenwa couldn’t hear. Ordinarily, Okenwa would have more power than Raphael, since Raphael is the servant to his family. However, in this situation, Raphael and Josephine are older than Okenwa, so they believe have more power than

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