Connecticut, 1826. After twelve harrowing years on this earth, newly orphaned Adeliza Huntington moves her hands to speak her first words. “Are you… deaf too?” Until this point, she had thought herself the only one. Born to an alcoholic father and battered mother, Adeliza escapes her small town to study at The American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, the first of its kind in the newly founded United States.
With her new friends, she learns to read, perform Greek theater, skate on frozen ponds, and, of course, to worship Almighty God. Most importantly, she finds within herself a depth of feeling and expression that cannot be silenced. But Adeliza keeps a terrible secret that she dare not speak–a secret that threatens her eternal soul. As she grows into a confident young woman, she faces the threat of her inevitable future in a hearing world outside the Deaf community. How will Adeliza reconcile the benevolent God from her lessons with the cruelty she has known and her wicked nature?
Intended for an adult, hearing audience, Cacophony is a literary look into the deaf perspective and the birth of a culture. Inspired by The Color Purple and Anne of Green Gables, Cacophony personalizes this famous moment in Deaf history to hearing and Deaf people alike.
I have worked closely with the Deaf professionally since 2015 and as a student of American Sign Language since 2005. I received a degree in History with an emphasis on historical fiction and the Revolutionary Period.
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Excerpt:
It was now noon, the fall sky burning a pale yellow. Outside the American School for the Deaf and Dumb, brilliant colored leaves rustled silent through the air. Adeliza sat on a bed in a large, plain room situated at the rear of the second floor. Adeliza’s trunk had been brought to her and was currently being arranged by the black haired woman who had tried to comfort her. There were two rows of other beds neatly arranged next to and across from her own, about eighty in total. Adeliza’s was under the middle of the three large windows. Her arms hung at her sides as she hunched her back over the edge of the bed. Again, her eyes rested in the fine grooves of the wood floor. Her tears had stopped now. Her thoughts continued to swirl in her mind as students and teachers passed the room unacknowledged.
Amid her sullen trance, two young girls entered the room and curtseyed to the woman, who smiled back. The first was a grinning, ruddy faced girl with shining golden ringlets pinned close to her crown. Her dress was a pale blue print, ruched at the hem with long sleeves. Her companion stood shorter, but not as small as Adeliza. Pale with large dark eyes, she smiled widely. She also wore her hair curled and pinned, though her locks had come loose and a few were close to falling. Her dress was all white with flounces of fabric on the bottom fourth and short sleeves, pleasantly puffed. They both noted the new addition in the room and made some hasty signs to each other.
“Hello girls!” signed the woman after putting Adeliza’s bonnet on the bed for a moment. “How was the vacation? I trust you and your families are in health?”
The two nodded in tandem. “Yes, Mrs. Peet.”
Mrs. Peet stood straight and smiled. “I’m surprised to hear it,” she signed. “You two must be planning something to have such restraint for a whole month.” Both girls smiled in an attempt to appear innocent.
“I know not what you mean, ma’am,” said the smaller, dark eyed girl.
The blonde took a half step forward. “Our friends and families have nothing but praise for our temperament, I’ll have you know. Isn’t that right Lucinda?” she said, her smile fixed and eyes knowing.
“Auntie was particularly reluctant to see me return, ma’am,” signed Lucinda rocking on her feet.
Mrs. Peet considered one, then the other, and shrugged, unconvinced. “I thank God nightly that you cause your families strife for only two months of the year. I am a patient woman, I’ll warrant, I can bear my trials. But mind your manners girls! Our first day resumed and I’ll not see this one spoilt.” Mrs. Peet picked up the bonnet and saw to fixing a mangled ribbon.
The two girls approached Adeliza’s bed, their mischievous grins changing to toothy smiles. The taller of the two signed first, very slowly.
“Hello! I’m Zina,” she signed, gesturing to herself. “You can call me [Z].” This last sign, she used her right forefinger to trace the letter Z near her right temple. “I’m [Z]”, she added for emphasis. “What is your name?”
Adeliza looked at Zina without moving from her bed. As Zina continued, she lifted her head to meet their gaze. She was unsure what to make of their gesturing.
Zina tried again. “I’m [Z]. You?” Adeliza sat motionless on the bed for a few seconds, then took a worn sheet of paper from inside her dress pocket and showed it to Zina. It read “This is Adeliza Huntington, daughter of Absalom Huntington, tended by Mrs. Constance Flannigan. Please see she is returned immediately as she is in a pitiable state.”
Zina read the note and showed it to the dark-haired girl. “She certainly hasn’t got her letters yet. Her name is Adeliza.” Now her young friend chimed in, just as slow as Zina.
“Hello, I’m Lucinda. I’m [L].” She made an L with her right thumb and forefinger and touched the forefinger to just below her right eye, then brought the shape forward. “I’m [L]. Do you read?” Adeliza looked from Zina to Lucinda. Mrs. Peet plopped a stack of tights onto the bedspread. Adeliza shook her head.
“Do you have signs?” This phrase took her longer, but she again indicated she did not.
“I’m sure she doesn’t understand, but oh well.” said Lucinda, carefully moving her hands and face to create the intended meaning. “We’ll find out what she calls things as we go along, I guess.”
Adeliza marveled at the majesty of their motions. She had, of course, pointed and mimed her thoughts since she was young, but never with such beauty and intention. As each word flew from their fingers she saw the subtle way their bodies moved, their eyebrows wrinkled, mouths opened, and shoulders turned. She had never seen the like anywhere.
Mrs. Peet tapped her foot on the floor, the vibration catching the girls’ attention. “Alright you two,” she said. “I’ve others to see to. God knows I’ll live to regret this, but be a friend to the little thing, seeing as you bunk beside one another.”
Zina and Lucinda gave a demure curtsey and Mrs. Peet ambled off, brushing her apron with her hands as she went.
Their backs turned, Adeliza found her courage. She looked at Zina and Lucinda, their eyes still following Mrs. Peet out the door. Adeliza waved and pointed to each of them in turn. She then flapped her mouth and wriggled her tongue about while keeping her finger pointed at them. Both Zina and Lucinda shook their heads. As they indicated they did not speak, they touched their right forefingers to their right ears.
In this moment Adeliza became truly attentive. Until this moment she had imagined herself the only deaf-mute in the world.
Zina went on, trying to act out her meaning. “We’re both deaf-mutes. We do not speak, though we do utilize the natural language of signs. You are deaf-mute.” Zina turned to Lucinda, “Where should we start? I haven’t done this, but you helped Jerusha before?”
Lucinda nodded to Zina. She waved her arm for Adeliza to come closer. Like a seer in a trance, Adeliza hopped down from the bed and stood before them. Lucinda signed again, “I’m [L].” After making the signs, she gently took Adeliza’s arm and formed the same signs indicating Lucinda’s name on her person. When she released Adeliza’s arm, she formed the signs again on her own.
“You are [L]” said Adeliza. She waited for their approval, then allowed herself a thin smile. “You are… [Z]”.
The three girls stood smiling in their dormitory in the bright afternoon light, pointing and signing. With every passing minute the world grew and grew for Adeliza in ways she could never have imagined. Slowly but eagerly she inhaled the bits of language as a stray dog scarfs down table scraps.