The Silence Between Us

Maya’s progress on her self-portrait is a symbolic representation of her journey of self-discovery in her new home and illustrates The Role of Deafness in Shaping Identity. The move to Colorado is disorienting for Maya: Since becoming Deaf, she has been surrounded by a close and supportive Deaf community, and she is not sure who she is outside of this context. When the portrait is assigned in Chapter 9, Maya has no idea how to even start it. “I FEEL I DON’T KNOW MYSELF,” she tells her teacher (80). Her understanding of herself and the world is in flux, and even after working on the picture for some time, by Chapter 11 she has still only completed “an outline of someone” (95). But she is determined to keep trying and stay open to others’ input, such as when her art teacher suggests bold colors and Kathleen encourages her to start with the blue of her hearing aids. This mimics the way Maya keeps trying at Engelmann and learns to take input from her new friends Nina and Beau. As Maya works on herself and her understanding of what it means to be Deaf in a hearing world, her self-portrait slowly takes shape.