We Need New Names

Darling and her old friends used to sing a song in school about Vasco da Gama discovering new lands. When Darling gets happy in America, she sings this song, thus showing that she is still tied to her old self and that she also still has some of her youthful idealism about her, despite America destroying much of this innocence slowly:

I am so happy about not being arrested, so happy, I hear myself singing this song we used to sing back home when we were little […] Because this is where I am now, and because it is a place where you sing like something is burning inside you (221-22).

Vasco da Gama also symbolizes seeking new lands, and Darling, along with many other refugees, is essentially seeking a new land to better herself, just as conquistadors of old used to seek new lands to better their home countries. Ironically, many refugees send money back home to help but often find that they no longer fit in with their old homelands. In the same vein of wandering, Darling nicknames Uncle Kojo “Vasco da Gama” when he begins wandering because he’s worried about his son TK. In this sense, Vasco da Gama symbolizes searching.

America is one of the largest symbols and motifs throughout the narrative. For those like Darling, America symbolizes hopes and dreams coming to fruition: “But then we got to America and saw all that food, we held our breath and thought, Wait, there must be a God” (240). America is the so-called Land Of Plenty, and people emigrate to America to make better lives for themselves. Even while young, Darling has a dream of living in America with Aunt Fostalina. Interestingly, America becomes a beacon of hope for many, but at the same time, it crushes hopes and dreams—such as dreams of becoming a doctor or lawyer—and replaces them with the harsh realities of existence.

Darling first sees this expensive car in Budapest, when she and her friends are scouring the trees for guavas. She wants to one day own the car. When she later sees it at the Crossroads Mall in America, she is elated. When she finds out how much it costs, however, she realizes that she will never own the car. This realization causes Darling to question her dream of America, as well as question whether or not she is still poor, even though she’s finally made it to America: “The thing is, I don’t want to say with my own mouth that if the car costs that much then it means I’ll never own it, and if I can’t own it, does that mean I’m poor, and if so, what is America for, then” (227).