Analysis: Miracle Worker (The Story of Helen Keller)

   Imagine a life without being able to see, hear and communicate to others, that is the condition of Helen Keller. She experienced six years of darkness. Anne Sullivan, was assigned to be her teacher. She will teach her how to cope up with her sickness. She had "doll" as her first word. She has a father, Arthur H. Keller, who wants her to be sent to an asylum but her mother, Kate Keller, just want Helen to be with her.
   Helen Keller was described by her uncle as blind, deaf and dumb child. When Anne came to their place, she immediately taught her language using a doll that Helen found on her trunk. She communicate to everyone using Manual Alphabet that her teacher taught her. Then, her teacher made letters out of card boards for Helen to read using her fingers. She just touch them then later on got familiarized with them. She enjoys Reading Game. But, later on she wants to learn how to speak through her mouth just like what her mother, father and teacher does. She also learned how to read through "braille". She became a student of Perkin's School of Blind under Sarah Fuller. How did Helen Keller learned how to speak? Ms. Fuller began by placing Helen's hand on her face and in her mouth, lightly at first. This allowed Helen to feel the position of Fuller's tongue and lips when she made a sound. She then shaped Helen's own mouth for making basic vowel sounds. She took Helen's hand and placed it on her throat so that Helen could feel the vibrations. For the next hour, the two focused on making the sounds of language. Helen would gently touch Fuller's face, mouth, tongue, and throat. Helen's hands also probed her own mouth and neck, as she tried to copy what Ms. Fuller was doing. First, she learned to form sounds. With time, she uttered her first sentence: "It is too warm."

    Helen Keller suffered first small numbers of strokes but was later on recovered. When she went home, her caretaker called her doctor immediately. Then, her doctor soon diagnosed her first stroke. She also developed diabetes, which gave her difficulty to travel or even walk. Helen's abilities later on impaired also her interest in communicating in the outside world diminished and her only past time is to read her interesting books.

    In relation to us who are capable of speaking, seeing and hearing. We should appreciate our abilities and should do or use it in a proper way. Just like in speaking, Saying "foul words" means that we are not appreciating our ability to talk instead we are abusing it. We are also lucky that we can see because it is really hard to live in a dark world just like Helen. We should listen and not just hear. Listening is different from hearing. Hearing is merely the ability of ear to sense sounds around one, but, listening is more of conscious effort to interpret the sounds, requiring concentration of mind.


   We should appreciate what we have especially our abilities because it is a blessing and not everyone is blessed with that because we still have people that are incapable or has disabilities.