The Silence Between Us

“SHE TALK A LOT, I signed to Kathleen, and her lips twitched like she was fighting back a smile.”

This quote illustrates how Gervais uses capitalization and other cues to signify whether dialogue is written, signed, or spoken. “SHE TALK A LOT” is in all-caps, signifying signed language. Maya’s comment about Nina is critical, but not mean-spirited, which characterizes Maya as basically kind despite the negative feelings about her new school that lead her to be a bit rude and disengaged. Kathleen’s stifling of her smile shows that she likes Maya and finds her amusing—and that she may even see merit in Maya’s criticism—but that as a responsible adult, she wants to encourage better behavior from Maya rather than rewarding her by openly laughing.

“That smile transformed him from an awkward rabbit into a surprisingly cute guy, and for a second I forgot how much he’d annoyed me earlier.”

Maya’s reaction to Beau’s smile foreshadows their eventual romantic relationship. Beau’s enthusiasm and positivity transform him from someone Maya just wants to ignore into someone to whom she is actively drawn.

“‘Of course I can talk! A lot of Deaf are oral, but it’s our choice whether we want to use our voices,’ I told Beau, my glare fierce. […] ‘I’m not stupid or anything, you know. I’m just as capable as you are.’”

Maya’s anger is conveyed by diction like “glare” and “fierce.” Her comments support the novel’s theme of Resilience in the Face of Discrimination by demonstrating how insensitive comments like Beau’s can impact Deaf individuals.

“I have…new friend…teacher put us…Trevor. Likes…Spider-Man!”

The enthusiasm and cheerfulness that characterize Connor are shown in this report of his first day at his new school. Gervais uses ellipses to indicate what Maya is able to pick out from spoken language by lip reading. Because Connor does not know much sign language, Maya is often only partially able to understand even her own brother.

“I decided his apology in sign language didn’t matter. Beau didn’t know anything about my world, and I sincerely doubted he ever would.”

Despite Beau’s obvious efforts to get to know Maya and enter her world at least a little bit, Maya refuses to believe that his intentions are good and that it is possible for a hearing person to grow to meaningfully understand a Deaf person. This contributes to the novel’s central conflict and indicates that Maya’s understanding of The Role of Deafness in Shaping Identity, at least at this point in the story, precludes the possibility of developing deep relationships with hearing people outside her own family.

“He even had this ‘cool guy’ way of sitting in class with his right leg stretched out in front of him, leaning back in his chair.”

Maya jumps to the conclusion that Beau is sitting this way because he is trying to seem “cool”—but this image of the way Beau sits actually foreshadows later revelations about the injury he suffered in the car accident that killed his mother. This misunderstanding of Beau’s motives characterizes Maya as more judgmental and negative than she realizes.

“Mom gave a dramatic start when she saw me, a hand at her heart, and signed, YOU AWAKE BEFORE NOON. WOW.”

Maya’s mother’s good-natured teasing illustrates two important points. One is that Maya’s mother is a role model for how to deal with stressful situations. Maya’s mother is overworked, worried about money, and worried about her son’s health, and yet she does not take this stress out on others. She is consistently supportive and positive with her children. The other point is that whether Maya can hear or not, she is a teenager like any other teenager, and her mother treats her as such, teasing her about sleeping late. This scene supports The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships.

“Maybe Beau’s signing wasn’t exceptional, but he was trying to communicate with me nevertheless. […] I could at least meet him halfway, right?”

Maya’s tone toward Beau—and by extension toward the hearing world—has begun to shift, strongly foreshadowing a positive outcome for the novel’s central conflict. While Maya initially resented the hearing world’s intrusion into her own world when she had to begin attending Engelmann and Beau began learning sign language, she now appreciates Beau’s efforts and resolves to meet him “halfway.” By the end of the novel, Maya will feel more secure extending herself in this way and in meeting the hearing world in general “halfway.”

“I was…wondering if Beau had played up the leave the poor Deaf girl alone angle. I’d immediately pegged that thought as dumb the second it flitted across my mind.”

When Beau tries to jump in and defend Maya on her first day, she is furious, because she does not want to be infantilized or pitied. After the homecoming dance, however, when she wonders if Beau has done essentially the same thing, she quickly suppresses the thought that Beau might be treating her like she is less competent because she is Deaf. The idea is ridiculous to her now, demonstrating that as she becomes more comfortable at Engelmann, and with Beau, she is less prone to defensively jump to the wrong conclusions about people’s intentions. Beau’s respectful and inclusive attitudes and behavior have had a clear positive impact on Maya.

“I felt my heart give a painful lurch in my chest. […] All the books and the reading made even more sense now. It was a way he could hold on to his mom.”

At this moment, Maya understands Beau more deeply than before, because he has finally told her about something central to his identity: the early loss of his mother. The revelation means a great deal to Maya, illustrating The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships.

“This didn’t seem like something that Beau wanted me to see, and I wanted to give him the chance to straighten himself up in peace.”

Despite Maya’s growing romantic preoccupation with Beau, she does not let her curiosity get the better of her when she inadvertently sees Beau’s leg injury for the first time. Instead, she makes some noise so that he will know she is entering the room and can put his pant leg back down over the scar. This characterization of Maya as sensitive to others’ dignity helps support the novel’s theme of The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships.

“More hearing people involved with this than you think.”

Maya points out to Jackson that huge numbers of hearing people supported the Gallaudet students’ protests. Ironically, Maya herself began the school year believing that hearing people would not care about her needs or show her respect. This moment affirms what she has been learning at Engelmann: Although there are hearing people who are disrespectful and uncaring, like Jackson, there are many more who want to understand and support the Deaf community.

“YES, Beau signed with another nod. THEY HEARD YOU.”

At the beginning of the story, Maya complained to her mother about being excluded from conversations, and her mother told her that she should teach her peers about how to be supportive and inclusive toward her and other Deaf people. This moment is a turning point for Maya in this regard, because she knows that her peers have finally heard her perspective as an equal.

“He was still in the sweatpants and T-shirt he must have fallen asleep in, his jacket and sneakers hastily thrown on, and his hair was a mess.”

This image of Beau arriving at the hospital emphasizes the haste with which he left home to be with Maya. This characterizes Beau as caring and willing to go out of his way to help others—especially Maya.

“It had taken me years to get to the place where I was comfortable being Deaf, enjoyed it and embraced everything that came with it. But now it felt like it was the one thing standing in the way of the dream I’d had since I was a child.”

Maya’s experience at the hospital shakes her understanding of The Role of Deafness in Shaping Identity. It is difficult for her to come to terms with the idea that Deafness might actually limit her in some situations, because she has learned to embrace Deafness as a wholly positive identity.

“There were serious differences in our two worlds. I didn’t know if he would think bridging that gap was worth it. I didn’t even know if I wanted to bridge that gap myself.”

Maya’s reflections about distancing herself from Beau after the night at the hospital demonstrate how deeply shaken she is by the experience. Prior to this experience, Maya was starting to understand The Role of Deafness in Shaping Identity differently; she realized that many hearing people are capable of respectful and inclusive attitudes and behavior and that Beau and Nina are good friends. After this experience, she lets doubt creep back in.

“A little alarming, sure, but once I hugged him back, I had no desire to let him go.”

Although Maya felt awkward after the hug at the hospital, which was motivated by her own vulnerability and need, she finds that hugging Beau out of joy after her acceptance into Cartwright is a different experience. This suggests that part of what caused Maya to temporarily distance herself from Beau, whether she knows it or not, is her own fear of needing others and being vulnerable with them.

“I knew talking about her wasn’t an easy thing for him to do, and yet he was sharing something like this with me?”

Maya’s reaction to Beau’s sharing about his mother demonstrates The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships. She is touched by his willingness to share something so personal; it makes her feel trusted and, in turn, she begins to trust him more.

“I didn’t just want to sign up for social security payments after graduation and call it good. I wanted more than that.”

Maya’s desire to work instead of relying on social security payments characterizes her as determined and ambitious. She intends to reach her goals even though she faces barriers to success that others do not have to face.

“Some of the best things in my life happened without my being able to hear, like excelling in my studies at Pratt, meeting Melissa, meeting Nina and Beau.”

Maya’s thoughts as she ignores her doctor’s explanation of the benefits of cochlear implants reflect both her pride in her Deaf identity and her new, more nuanced understanding of this identity. She lists both things that happened to her in the exclusively Deaf environment of Pratt and things that have happened since, in the hearing environment of Engelmann.

“And all this was just in high school. In college and out in the real world, things were going to be vastly different, and I was by no means eager to face it. I wanted to believe for just a little bit longer that the world was a nice place and people who were ‘different’ were still treated kindly.”

Although Maya’s experience at Engelmann has gone better than she expected, she is very aware that she still faces discrimination there—and that the discrimination is likely to worsen after she leaves high school. Gervais uses Maya’s thoughts to point out that life for Deaf people requires Resilience in the Face of Discrimination.

“It usually took a herculean effort on my part to be honest when it came to touchy feely stuff like this.”

Maya often struggles to open up to others and share her feelings; throughout the story, there are examples of others having to coax her repeatedly before she is completely honest. She is slowly learning The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships, however, and when she talks with her mother on the day after her birthday, she makes an effort to be forthright even though it is difficult to talk about what happened with Beau.

“A fresh start here wasn’t such a bad idea. Time to throw out all the misconceptions about hearing and Deaf people and start over.”

Maya’s reaction to Beau’s suggestion that they give themselves a fresh start demonstrates her growth. She now appreciates The Importance of Communication in Healthy Relationships and realizes that failing to communicate clearly can lead to misunderstandings. She also sees that, just as she wants hearing people to show more understanding of Deaf people, she should offer hearing people understanding, too.