The importance of a name

I have always enjoyed the story, "No Name Woman". It always makes me think about just how important not only an identity, but something as simple as a name can be. This poor woman was ostracized from her village, her culture, and her family. They villagers not only "began slaughtering our livestock" (2745), but they also slaughtered this young woman's future and her identity. These villagers even seemed to know that what they were doing to this poor woman seemed wrong since "they took sugar and oranges to bless themselves" (2746). You would only bless yourself if you had done something wrong, but that's just my opinion. This poor woman was robbed of everything that any person would hold dear. She was robbed of a loving family and the support that would have came with it. SHe was robbed of a caring village who would be able to offer help and friendship if a time came for it. Most of all, she lost her NAME! She lost the one part of her that could be passed down the centuries so that even her future decendents would know who she was. A name symbolizes importance in a story. If an author names something, then that person must have an important impact on the story. While this woman was robbed of her given name, Kingston has still named her in this story. I believe that No Name is her new name now. This poor woman must be terribly upset to have to wander about with a name that is not truly a name. I think this woman should have inspired pity from the villagers instead of this inhumanity that they did to her.