My Favorite Chaperone

“My Favorite Chaperone” is narrated from Maya’s first-person limited point of view. This narrative perspective emphasizes the way Maya often feels alone in her coming-of-age journey. As a teen growing up in American culture, she tries to live up to her parents’ traditional expectations of her while her values become more aligned with their new society. Her parents are strict and isolate her from her peers, giving her few chances to socialize or do anything beyond schoolwork. This sparks the story’s central conflict when Maya wants to go to the Spring Fling and is certain that her parents won’t permit it.

Okimoto does not delve deeply into Kazakh culture but introduces some history through exposition and adds flavor to the text by incorporating Russian words into the dialogue. These bits of Russian also emphasize The Clash of Cultural and Individual Identity and are often used to create space between Maya and her parents. For example, Maya’s parents often tell her “Nyet,” which means “no” in Russian, emphasizing that their strictness is rooted in their cultural context. Likewise, when her father sees her in Daniel’s arms, he screams “‘EDEE SUDA!’ […] COME HERE” (16). At the same time, Maya tells Nurzhan “‘Neechevo, Nurzhan. Ya vas ne veenu.’ It’s okay, Nurzhan. I don’t blame you” in the principal’s office (10), symbolizing a united front in the face of anti-Kazakh bias. Here, Russian is used to bind the siblings in their cultural and familial identity.

Nurzhan’s fight is the inciting incident and establishes that anti-immigrant bias and racism are persistent problems in the United States. However, this is not the main issue in the story, showing that racism and racial prejudice are just some of the challenges faced by immigrants. While conscious of this as a serious issue, Okimoto does not let her characters’ experiences be defined by this kind of conflict, representing her overall goal to provide positive resolutions in her children’s stories.

The rising action introduces other aspects that define Maya’s life. As the eldest daughter, Maya is given outsized responsibility in helping her family and nurturing her brother. She is their translator, putting her in uncomfortable situations like answering her parents’ phone calls and acting as an intermediary for the principal. However, this role also gives her power as she shapes her parents’ reality through her translations. For example, she softens the principal’s account of Nurzhan’s fight and gets him a lighter punishment from their father. While Maya’s actions are dictated by her parents' expectations for her as a girl (and fear of her father’s anger), her agency in this scene hints that she will only become more independent as she grows up in this new culture.

In the climactic scene when Mr. Alazova catches Maya flirting with Daniel, the issue of Gender Roles and Taboos Between Cultures comes to a head. Before Mr. Alazova arrives, Maya feels free and excited around Daniel, and this scene is one of the few that uses lighthearted, playful language to explore Maya’s emotions. While their actions are innocent—described at one point as “a litter of playful puppies” (16)—Mr. Alazova is furious, and his rage transforms Maya from a puppy into a “trembling […] dog caught stealing a chicken” (16). The climax accentuates the conflict and widens the distance between Maya, who longs to be a typical American teen, and her parents, who detest the idea of her mixing with boys. Their perspective is expressed through misogynistic language, with her father describing her as “a toy for American boys” (17). The gulf between them is symbolized by the silent treatment she receives as a punishment.

The falling action reinforces the cross-cultural clash and the division between individual and cultural identities. When Mrs. Alazova hurts herself, Maya is forced to give up gymnastics—symbolizing her individuality—and take on her mother’s work to support the family. This includes both her jobs as a cleaner and her household labor, stretching Maya thin to support her family. As a girl, this is expected of her, and Nurzhan notably takes on no new responsibilities while their mother is injured. Maya’s individual identity is effectively snuffed out, represented by her injury cutting potatoes while preparing dinner one night. The blood-tinged potatoes symbolize what it costs to nurture others when one is not nurtured themselves. Luckily for Maya, this situation is temporary, and at the end of it, her mother appreciates her hard work and sacrifice.

The story’s resolution is masterminded by Nurzhan—although he does not help with the household labor, he helps get Maya what she really wants: permission to go to the Spring Fling. Through Maya’s limited perspective, Okimoto conceals the conversation where he convinces his parents to sign her permission slip, but his offer to be her chaperone—while ironic due to his young age—initiates the story’s catharsis. He is a reconciling force between the family’s old and new culture, able to use his status as a son to reassure his parents and help his sister. As a result, the story ends on a note of transformation and cross-cultural adaptation, symbolized by Mrs. Alazova giving Maya her gold bracelet and remarking that “[g]irls and boys dance younger here” (23). While the family’s conflicts are not permanently resolved, this is a gesture of good faith. Coupled with her assertion that Maya is a “good girl,” it signals a positive, more tolerant future for the Alazovas as they continue their life in America.