Two major characters in Rose Under Fire (by Elizabeth Wein) have names that mean the same thing. One is named Róża ("Rose" in her native language) and the other Rose. As far as I can remember, this is brought up a few times, but only used as banter.
One theory that I have as to why they share a name is to emphasize how they act as foils to each other. Róża is largely defined by Ravensbrück (the concentration camp the two meet in), while Rose is defined by who she is outside the camp. This is explicitly brought up here:
There wasn't any part of Róża that wasn't connected to Ravensbrück, even her work, even the parts of her body that had escaped experimentation
Ravensbrück doesn't define me. I had a lot of being Rose to cling to when I landed there
Both quotes from "3. DRAG" (part 3 of the ending magazine article)
However I can't explain this theory very well, and it fells ill-defined to me. I'm interested in other's interpretations of the name-sharing. Is there some deeper significance behind the fact they share the same name meaning?
