Examples of how names can say something about the character.

1.  Willy Loman from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.  Loman says a lot about Willy be a low man.  It provides the reader an opportunity to analyze the name and character

2.  Fortunato from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado."  Fortunato has the word fortunate in it, but he is quite unfortunate. 

3.  The Misfit from Flannery O'Conner's "A Good Man is Hard to Find."  Misfit has two definitions.  You would have to read the story to see how both definitions seem to work.  And you can analyze why The Misfit has chosen this name. 

4.  Arnold Friend from Joyce Carol Oates's "Where are You Going, Where have You Been."  Say the name quickly and you have something that sounds like "an old friend."  Or at the very least you have the word "friend" in the name. 

NOTE:  Although there are plenty of examples of names having symbolic or other significance in literature, it is not terribly common.  Don't try to make sense out of every character's name.  It is not going to work.  But it is a good place to look.

 

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