The Chaperone

Cora’s journey up until the time she meets Mary O’Dell is marked with a strong sense that she won’t completely know who she is unless she can find out who her birth parents were. Cora realizes after meeting Mary that she herself ultimately determines her identity. She begins to separate her outer identity as the daughter of Mary O’Dell and Jack Murphy from her inner identity of lover, mother, wife, and friend. She learns to trust her emotional identity as a child of the Kaufmanns rather than as the child of her biological parents. Moreover, she crafts an identity for herself that she presents to the world: She tells others that Joseph is her brother.

The characters’ emotional reaction to a place can reveal aspects of their identity. Cora’s sense of belonging is tied to Wichita, as she comes to realize during her time in New York. Although she looks back on her time with the Kaufmanns fondly, the town where they lived is not her home in the way that Wichita is. In contrast to Cora, Louise feels an immediate connection with New York and declares that she belongs there, leaving Kansas behind emotionally. She says exuberantly, “Isn’t that something? That I could feel so attached to a place that’s still new to me? It’s not even where I’m from” (299).