Show Me a Sign

Andrew has kidnapped Mary and taken her aboard his schooner. When she awakens from her drugged state, she finds her hands are tied so that she can’t sign: “I have never felt so helpless. […] He took my voice when he tied my hands” (151). Mary recalls the letter she found in Andrew’s belongings, suggesting that he bring back a person who is deaf. She concludes that he intends to perform experiments on her.

For the next 10 days, Mary is locked in the ship’s cabin. Andrew neglects her for the most part. On Day 11, he presents her with a list of rules acknowledging that she has gone with him voluntarily. If she resists, he promises that she will never see her family again. Mary has no choice but to agree to his terms. She says, “What hurts worse is that he doesn’t see me as someone created in the Almighty’s image. I am a specimen, not a person.” (156).

When she arrives in Boston, Mary is astonished by the sights and sounds and how different the people are. Nobody is signing. She is upset at the sight of beggars in the street. Although many of the beggars have physical disabilities, Mary wonders how many might simply be deaf like her.