A Profund Etimology

Do you know the etymology behind your name? Many people do not. Sometimes the meaning behind a person's name can reveal quite a bit of information about him or herself. This is a great tool for authors of short stories as they can emphasize symbols and meaning to a personality. Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were able to give readers an in depth explanation of who the characthers are. Two great examples of the importance of the characthers etymology are the short stories "The Cask of the Amontillado" and "The Birthmark". The name of a character is an extremely important way used to emphasize and foreshadow meaning to the story.

Part of the brilliance behind these short stories can be attributed to the foreshadowing presented by the characther names in both stories. Even more so because all of the names chosen for every single characther seem to be an irony to that characther's fate. An example would be Fortunato, whose name stands for luck and fortune, something he had none when his foe Montresor left him to die in the catacombs. Fortunato emphasizes the meaning of his luck not only by his name, but by his own clothes. "Fortunato dresses as a court jester. His festive outfit contrasts with the ghastly fate that awaits him. From time to time, the bell on his cone-shaped hat jingles-a nice comic touch from Poe." (Cummings, 1). Fortunato, short of any luck or fortune, was lured to his death because of his drunkeness.

On the other hand, Montresor's family motto is what defines his own characther: "Nemo me impune lacessit" (Poe, 675). The translation to such saying is that no one will injure me without punishment. Fortunato's death wish was signed the day when he proved Montresor wrong. Ever since Montresor began to form a hatred for Fortunato and his position in society as a connoisseur by thinking of how he should not deserve his title because he was not experienced enough to be considered one. As one can foreshadow from this motto alone, Fortunato would have to face Montresor's plan for revenge before the story was over, proving himself to be not as fortunate as his name itself.

The Birthmark also has the same traits used for symbols and irony in the etimology of their characters. The first character was Aylmer, which is the same pronunciation

of Elmer. The etimology behind Elmer is of someone who is noble and famous. It also describes someone as spiritual. However, Aylmer proved to be highly spiritual, and sometimes taking it to the extreme. His actions would categorize him as an arrogant person who would use his powers to play God, as he believed he could achieve anything in medicine, even to remove the hand from the face of his wife Georgiana. The etymology behind that name is the feminine of George. George defines a person who works with the earth, namely a farmer. Hence Georgiana's name hints a personality that is somewhat down to earth.. She is a simple person who loves her husband so much that she would do anything for him.

Aylmer's assistant, or counter-part, was Aminadab. He helped Aylmer in his effort to remove the birthmark from Georgiana's face. It was clear that Aminadab never agreed with Aylmer's actions to remove the birthmark by saying that "If she were my wife, I'd never part with that birthmark" (Hawthorne, 406). His characther portrayed someone with a great personality for being so noble and appreciative of how people were. However, he was physically described as someone that had an unpleasing appearance,