Name Me Nobody Character Analysis

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Name Me Nobody is about Emi-lou “Louie” Kaya, a thirteen-year-old who feels like a nobody; from the very beginning of the book she doesn’t own who she is, claiming she is “a nobody bastard girl” (2). Throughout the book Louie’s character is trying to find who she is, and she constantly seems lost. But what complicates Louie’s path to finding herself even more is the fact that unlike most young adult novels there are many characters that play a role in shaping Louie’s character. Nikolajeva’s text states, it is conventional in juvenile literature to get rid of parental protection (112), and while Emi-lou’s mother is out of the picture, the presence of parental or adult figures are quite prominent. Then, along with all the adult characters, there…show more content…
One of the major incidents when Louie doesn’t have control over her body is when she allows Von to put her on a strict diet, the “Von-Starve-and-Sweat Plan” (42). This diet is clearly dangerous, it’s a plan where she hardly eats, is jumping from an non-existent exercise plan into a rigorous plan, and taking diet pills and laxatives, if she had control or any sense she wouldn’t allow this to happen. Another way she lets people take control is how easily she is affected by her social surroundings. Not just her peers but also the adults constantly ridicule her for being overweight, and therefore she constantly feels obese, and sad which causes her to seek comfort in food. The very reason she agrees to Von’s crazy diet plan is because at the beach Kyle Kiyabu and others harass her with names like “white whale” and “Fat Albert” (31). Finally, another thing that has control over Louie is her emotions. Her emotions constantly get the better of her, and she eats. Whether, she is being teased, hurt, or confused food is her comfort. Louie states that, “food makes her feel warm inside,” that with every bite she gets numb, food helps her forget (208). Her family, peers and her emotions shape everything about Louie—and until she can get control of these things her body will never be her own. Louie is lost, and trying to find herself, however her image is being depicted by others. I…show more content…
This week I also felt a powerful connection to the text, I grew up in an Asian household, and felt there were a lot of symmetry between my life and Louie’s. But there were also differences, growing up was hard for a lot of reasons, and quite honestly, I could describe the way I looked was a lot like Louie, but I think the main difference between me and Louie would be the way we carry ourselves. I didn’t like the way I looked and still feel uncomfortable with it sometimes, but I never showed it, as far as others were concerned I looked GOOD. Personally, I think a lot of what other people see is the way you act, when you don’t exude confidence others pick up on that and can eat you alive. A lot of the time, what got me through tough times with my looks was a fake-it to make-it personality. That’s why Von and Viva made such strong characters because they liked who they were, they were confident and that’s what gave them to the ability to take power over Louie. That’s why when Louie was on her own she was forced to do things for her and that’s why in the end she was able to take control of her own body. This novel was compelling, and while I didn’t agree with certain parts, I’d like to think there was a message about positive body image wrapped up in this novel, although I’d prefer it being safer than the methods depicted in the
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