My Favorite Chaperone

In “My Favorite Chaperone,” Maya’s coming-of-age journey is paralleled by a clash between her search for individual identity and her complicated feelings about her Kazakh identity. At times, she is stifled by her parents’ expectations and longs for more personal freedom. At others, cultural identity provides a safe haven, particularly when Maya and her brother stand up for each other. In the end, her mother’s gift of her gold bracelet emphasizes that Maya can become her own young woman without abandoning her Kazakh heritage.

While Maya never disparages her cultural identity, she shows an affinity for American ideals early in the story. After resigning herself to not being able to go to the dance, she reflects that the US is “a place where things can change for people, and many people always seem to have hope” (3). This foregrounds her hope and desire for more control over her life, a fact that is reinforced when she thinks about gymnastics. She enjoys two types of freedom on the team—social freedom where she can express herself and make friends and a physical one, where she can “fly through the air, a wonderful thing happens and suddenly [she has] no worries and no responsibilities” (5).