The Icarus Girl

Names play an important role throughout the novel. Many characters have multiple names or nicknames that indicate something about their identity. When Jess first arrives in Nigeria, her grandfather refers to her by Wuraola, her Yoruba name. At first Jess thinks, “Wuraola sounded like another person. Not her at all. Should she answer to this name, and by doing so steal the identity of someone who belonged here?” (21). Being part English and part Nigerian, Jess sometimes struggles with her identity. However, she eventually gets used to the name Wuraola as her relationship with her grandfather grows.

When Jess first meets TillyTilly, TillyTilly writes Jess’s name as “Jessy” in the dust. Jess remarks, “This was the second time that someone had called her something that she had never been called by anyone before. First Wuraola, now Jessy. She’d always been Jess or Jessamy, never a halfway thing like Jessy” (44). Similarly, Jess comes up with the nickname TillyTilly because she doesn’t have the accent to pronounce Titiola properly. Jess and TillyTilly’s special nicknames for each other represent the unique bond they share. However, Jess’s different names could also represent her struggle to come to terms with the various parts of her identity, as well as her supernatural connection to TillyTilly and her deceased twin sister.