76 pages • 2 hours read
Ann Clare LeZotteShow Me a Sign
Ann Clare LeZotteFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Storytelling
Storytelling is a recurring motif in the novel that relates to the theme of defining deafness. Early in the book, Mary says, “While I walk, I make up a story to please myself. It’s something I’ve done for as long as I can remember. If I’m restless in bed, it helps me fall asleep. If I’m bored, it entertains me. Sometimes it helps me make sense of things that lack sense” (19-20). During her most difficult experiences, Mary makes up stories because they help explain a confusing world in ways that she can understand. They also help her to imagine a better outcome than her circumstances suggest. Storytelling is born of the imagination.
Aside from the psychological benefit that Mary derives from making up stories, she is equally enthralled by the stories of others. In describing other storytellers, she emphasizes how a story told through sign is more accessible than one encased in words. Ezra illustrates this point when he signs Reverend Lee’s sermon about Noah’s Ark: “Ezra Brewer is having good sport imitating the wind and sea that rocked Noah’s Ark, just as a storm batters the windows and shakes the rafters of the Meeting House now. He is very lively in his interpretation of the birds and beasts” (88).
Storytelling in sign becomes a theatrical performance. This is further underscored in Miss Hammond’s discussion about the French school for people who are deaf, where one of the teachers told a story in sign to a hearing audience:
It wasn’t just his signs, but his facial expressions. He performed famous scenes in history—like the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution—with a few hand signs and a lit-up face that showed every emotion. Visitors who knew no sign language could guess what he was talking about (265).
This recurring motif suggests that those who define deafness as a limitation are failing to see the advantages it affords to a storyteller who must use their entire physicality to convey their message. Such a performance is often superior to any verbal story.
Writing Materials
It is no accident that cultures wishing to keep the lower orders in place try to deprive them of education. At certain points in history, enslaved people and women were denied the ability to read and write. Writing materials appear at various points in the novel, symbolizing a means to scale the social hierarchy and shatter assumptions about innate intelligence. While Mary relies on her ability to sign, she distinguishes herself from other girls her age by her desire to read and write. Mary says:
Miss Hammond says I have a vivid imagination and that I can tell the truth from lies. She says that I’m a natural storyteller. I hope to become a schoolteacher like her one day. Then I would have my own collection of books, and I wouldn’t have to justify the urge to read and write rather than cook and clean (20).
While educational opportunities are limited for girls in the early-19th century, Mary isn’t about to let this stop her. Ezra counsels her to follow her own dreams: “‘I’ve been watching you for all your years. You’ve got something in you, girlie.’ ‘Some people don’t think that’s good,’ I sign. ‘Pay them no mind,’ he signs. ‘I never do’” (239).
Mary’s proficiency with a pen will eventually lead to her liberation when it flies in the face of prejudiced views against people who are deaf. While Mary is in Boston, she is denied of her only means of communication. When Mrs. Muffins finds her stealing a piece of paper to write a rescue note, the innkeeper throws it in the fire. Later, when Mary is being held at Minot’s home, she asks Nora for writing materials but is refused. The maid is acting under the assumption that people who are deaf cannot read or write; even Minot initially believes this notion.
It isn’t until Mary sneaks into Minot’s office and commandeers paper and pen that her world changes. By writing, she can communicate with him on his own level, and he admits, “It’s quite astonishing to me that you can write English when you’ve never heard the language spoken. I had always thought that hearing was the most important sense. Perhaps I am wrong” (214). When Mary overturns conventional wisdom about the capabilities of people who are deaf, she breaks through the social hierarchy.
George’s Map
George’s map appears at frequent intervals in the novel and helps his sister get her bearings under a variety of dangerous conditions. It also functions to move the plot forward at several points. The map speaks to the theme of navigating two different worlds—Martha’s Vineyard and Boston. George’s map helps Mary in both. Initially, the map was drawn to point out local landmarks on the island and was created by George at the request of Mary and Nancy: “Nancy and I had wanted a map of Chilmark. Not the kind cartographers make, but a map with all the places that are important to us. George counted drawing among his many talents, so he made it for us” (51).
On the day that Nancy and Mary plan their ghost dance, Mary retrieves the map to guide them through the treacherous marsh. To obtain it, Mary must overcome her resistance to going into George’s bedroom. She has avoided the place ever since he died. Her first act of courage requires her to face her fears to reclaim it. After the map serves its purpose, Mary places it back in a book in George’s room. Unfortunately, her mother foolishly lends all of George’s books to Andrew, and the map is included.
Mary is devoted to the map not simply because it can guide her through the island’s marshlands but because it symbolizes the link to her family and her past. She says, “It is a map of memories. George was always adding new touches” (51). The significance of the map to Mary explains why she would risk so much to retrieve it from Andrew as he leaves the island. The two wrestle for possession of the scrap of paper until Andrew subdues and abducts her.
Later, when Mary is being held in Minot’s house, she escapes downstairs to search for the map in the study where Andrew keeps his books. This is the point at which she discovers Minot’s journal entries about her and Andrew’s lies. Now in possession of all the facts, Mary can write an eloquent reply to Minot that eventually frees her. With the map in hand, she returns to her island home. The map has once more led her back to safety. The novel concludes with Mary giving the map to Nancy as the latter leaves for Boston. Mary knows that Boston is a treacherous place, and a good map is invaluable in finding one’s way home.
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