We Need New Names

Darling is now in Detroit, and through her descriptions, it’s apparent that she’s suffering from culture shock. When she looks out the window, everything is covered by deep snow and looks foreign. She thinks about the difference and says, “[S]ome things happen only in my country, and this here is not my country; I don’t know whose it is” (149). Darling thinks that the snow is evil and greedy, for what else can cover everything so completely? The reader is introduced to TK, her cousin whom she describes as fat, and aunt Fostalina, her mother’s sister who went to Zimbabwe and brought her back. Aunt Fostalina works out continuously, and there’s also Uncle Kojo, who is TK’s father and from Ghana, but who isn’t married to Aunt Fostalina. Darling gave her goodbyes to her friends and took a picture with them. Her mother took her to Vodloza’s for a blessing, and he gave her a bone that he tied around her neck as a weapon for protection. When the TSA agents asked her if she had a weapon, she innocently says yes, and they take her bone charm away.

Darling finds it boring with the snow as she can’t go outside. TK refuses to play with her as he plays games by himself, which is strange to Darling. Darling thinks the cold in Detroit is a cold that can kill, and she doesn’t trust it. Aunt Fostalina’s relative named Prince comes from Zimbabwe, and it’s clear that he has mental issues. Although he’s young, he’s aged considerably from living in Zimbabwe. He says random things, mutters and shouts at the television, and plays with wooden animals. When he makes sounds for the animals, “the dead light in his eyes almost comes back” (160). They all watch Obama giving a speech on television and are happy at seeing democracy in action. When the snow begins to thaw, Aunt Fostalina asks Darling if she wants to go out with her, but Darling still doesn’t trust the snow. Prince has an episode where only Aunt Fostalina can calm him down by singing a native song. Darling only feels like she’s back in her country when her aunts and uncles (whom she’s never met previously) all come and cook food from her country. The smells remind her of home and her mother’s cooking. The adults all talk about home and speak in their own language, which means Uncle Kojo can’t understand. 

Darling and her family are driving to a wedding in South Bend, Indiana. It’s the wedding of Aunt Fostalina’s old friend Dumi. Uncle Kojo is driving, but they are lost, and he refuses to get directions. The GPS device keeps rerouting, angering him. While they drive, Darling looks at the maize and fields going by and is reminded of home: “[T]here are always moments like this, where it almost looks like the familiar things from back home will just come out of nowhere, like ghosts” (166). She also thinks about how she wouldn’t recognize herself right now if she could see herself because she has makeup on and looks completely different. Aunt Fostalina did her makeup for the wedding, and she sort of likes it. She also thinks about how everyone at Washington Academy made fun of her when she first arrived. The bullying didn’t stop until a kid named Tom arrived and they made fun of him instead of Darling. They called him a freak, so much so that he killed himself at school.

Uncle Kojo starts lecturing her about school and priorities, which don’t include makeup, when he hits a deer. This wakes up Aunt Fostalina, and scares everyone. The deer limps away, though Darling is worried about it. Aunt Fostalina is angry now because they should’ve been at the wedding already. They’d taken the navigator off but put it back on and realize they’re headed the wrong way. They turn around, and TK jokes that they’re being followed by the police, scaring Uncle Kojo: “The way he says the word police, as if they were witches, monsters” (171).

Aunt Fostalina tells Darling one day prior to the wedding that she used to date Dumi, the groom. The main reason she’s going to the wedding is to see what the bride looks like, and she wants to look good herself. She buys a dress that is too small, but by the time of the wedding, fits easily into the dress. The first thing Darling notices once they get to the wedding is all the white people. Not only that, but the bride is white and obese. Darling compares fatness in America and back home. Back home, people who are large are considered healthy because it means they have enough food. They still have bodies and shapes. In America, people are grotesquely large, even though they have plenty of food to eat so as not to feel starved. Darling notes how happy Aunt Fostalina is, and she knows it’s because “Dumi’s bride is fat and ugly” (173).

Messages from back home are read at the wedding, which cause nostalgia for Darling. She then goes to the restroom, where she eavesdrops on two girls who are gossiping and making fun of the bride. They also mention “the things people will do for these papers” (175), suggesting that Dumi is marrying more for citizenship than love. When they leave, Darling prepares to leave but is bombarded by a white woman who asks her countless questions about Africa, as if Darling knows about every crisis besides the one in her country. The woman speaks of her daughter, who is helping refugees and other causes, and she almost makes Darling want to cry when she describes all the ills taking place throughout Africa. She also asks Darling to say something in her language. The woman finally leaves, and when Darling returns, she watches Tshaka Zulu, an elderly man who lives in Shadybrook (an institution), perform traditional songs in traditional clothing.

Darling doesn’t eat much because she’s embarrassed by trying to eat with utensils. Uncle Kojo and TK, however, eat as if they’re starving. Dumi comes by with his child and makes small talk with Aunt Fostalina. Darling notes that Aunt Fostalina smiles when Dumi speaks, “like she is hearing music and she is dancing to music on the inside” (181). Later, the child, who is white but named Mandla (a Zimbabwean name), begins acting up by throwing a ball at people and disrespecting Dumi, whom Mandla says is not his father. He then throws the ball at Darling and hits her in the eye. Before she can think, she goes over and smacks Mandla a few times. The wedding guests are shocked and horrified. An elder guest tries to tell them that this is how children are disciplined in Zimbabwe, but the others look at Darling like she’s murdered the child. Although she thinks she’ll get in trouble, Aunt Fostalina simply reminds her to act differently in America.