First person in That Eye, the Sky 2: Summarising the characters

My name is Morton Flack

Let’s look at the first part of the snippet, where Ort introduces himself.

My name is Morton Flack, though people call me Ort for short. Ort is also a name for bum in our family. It means zero too (you know, like nought), but in my case it just means Morton without saying all of it.

That Eye, the Sky(1986)

What can we learn from the way a character describes themselves?

Narrator name: Their given name.

Nickname: What do people call them?

Expansions: Your choice of extra details. But notice that Ort doesn’t describe himself physically. Instead he expands on meanings of his name—short, zero, nought, bum—that all reinforce the sense that he is somehow small or insignificant. 

Try to bring the description to a conclusion that feels meaningful (not just an arbitrary detail). Ort does this by returning to his given name. Look at the examples below for other ideas.

My name is Joseph Mwaria, but a lot of people call me Jojo. Joseph is a Christian name. It means “He gives” (where He is god). Mwaria is Kikuyu and means talkative, but I am a quiet person. 

My name is Blanchette, though everyone in the village calls me Little Red Cap after the cape I like to wear, red as a robin’s throat, when walking in winter. I’m not little, I’m actually quite tall for my age. I think if a boy wore the same cloak, they’d call him the Mighty Lord of the Forest or somesuch. But for me, Little Red Cap it is.

Write your variation here.
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