Overcoming Obstacles In Helen Keller's Life

Many people take their eyesight and hearing for granted because they are so accustomed it; however, others live without their eyesight and/or hearing. Today, over 5% of the world’s population, about 360 million people, suffer from hearing loss (“Deafness and Hearing Loss”). Likewise, about 7 million people go blind every year (“EyeCare America”). There are about 45,000-50,000 people in the United States who are blind and deaf (“Center for Parent Information and Resources”). Helen Keller is one example of someone who was both blind and deaf.

If most people heard the name Helen Keller, they would think of that poor girl who was deaf and blind. They would think of her and remember the stories they heard about how she was taught how to communicate by a teacher named Anne Sullivan. That is probably all they would think about her. How she was world famous because of how she learned to read through Braille, letters pressed into her hand, and how she eventually learned to speak, however, this is not all there is to Helen Keller.

For Helen Keller, the hardest thing in her life was being blind and deaf, but she didn’t let that stop

Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind woman to achieve so many goals in her life despite her disabilities. Keller was considered to be a leading figure of the 20th century. She is best known for all her accomplishments. Keller was the most powerful blind and deaf advocate of her time. She transformed the way others viewed handicapped people. In Helen Keller’s later years, she attended Radcliffe College (perkins.org).

James Berger writes, “Some felt that Gibson and Penn were responsible for sentimentalizing Sullivan and Keller’s stories and turning the two women into caricatures,” (Berger 1). The quote from the article shows that some critics did feel that the miracle worker had flaws, namely representation of Helen and Annie. As well as their personalities, Helen and Annie’s relationships were also exaggerated. Many of the dramatic fights between teacher and student did not happen and if they did, Helen at age 7 could not have put up as much of a fight as she did in Penn’s movie. The actor who played Helen was 15 at the time of the filming, and due to her larger size and energy than Helen, depicted Helen as larger burden to Annie then she was in reality. In addition to the the way her story was Illustrated, Helen Keller felt that that the personalities of she and Annie were depicted in a way that she did not feel was

Upon practicing her skills as a child, Annie further continued her journey in the actual

Helen Keller was born with the ability to see and hear. At 19 months she had an illness that the doctors thought was Scarlet Fever, this resulted in Helen becoming deaf and blind. Five years later, her parents had hired a teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Keller learned to understand and communicate to the world around her. Helen Keller stood up against

Born June 27, 1880 a baby named Helen Keller, she was a normal baby until 19 months of age when she became not only blind but blind and deaf. Anne Sullivan came to help the little child. She taught sign language on helen’s fingers and helped the child to connect objects with her signing. Once that was accomplished then Anne taught her to speak, she could never speak the clearest but what mattered is she could speak. At the age of 16 she could then speak and sign. Being able to attend school and not only finished high school but then she was the first ever blind person to get a Bachelor of arts degree. Her proud parents were Kate Adams and Arthur H. Keller, her brothers were William Simpson, Phillips, and James Keller, and she had one sister

Annie Sullivan of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker desperately wishes to unlock Helen Keller's true potential but doing so is an arduous activity. At the start of the play, Helen is an obstreperous child, locking Annie in her own room and stabbing her teacher with a needle. Despite Helen's rude behavior, Annie can see Helen is a bright child who would go on to do amazing things. To James, Annie says, “Oh, there's nothing impaired in her head. It works like a mousetrap” (Gibson 680). Helen, unfortunately, constantly pushes Annie away by throwing food at her or running away. Annie gets little joy from Helen and her attempts to treat Helen as normal child are seen as cruel. Still, Annie persists by teaching her the alphabet through hand signs and she is finally able to get Helen to connect names to objects. Annie's struggles are well rewarded because her relationship with Helen significantly improves after that and Helen goes on to be one of the most influential women in history. Annie Sullivan truly

During the Holocaust, six million Jews were persecuted, and even more were oppressed by the Nazis. Throughout all of this suffering, Anne Frank still stood by her ideals she talked about and saw, such as hope, selflessness, and family. Anne had hope that she would soon return to a classroom someday, after the war is over. She also talked about selflessness, because of the people who risked their lives to keep her safe. Family also affected her because she had many people around her who acted like family, even if they were not consanguine. Throughout all these years, Anne still believed in these standards, even the toughest of times.

"I used to wander around crashing into things, but then I found that things are bigger than I am. That is thanks to you," Helen told Annie her teacher. As an infant she could see and hear, but by the age of two, due to an illness, she no longer could. Helen Keller is considered to be a hero among many people. She has had a lasting effect on everyone with disabilities and everyone else. Her history and background are different from everyone else, she has many obsticles that she overcame and became her accomplishments, and her legacy, she left behind is still important for everyone to hear.

Helen became deaf and blind at 19 months old in February 1882. Helen went to many different schools to get the help she needed. Helen did many things and always believed she could achieved her goals. "Duty bids us go forth into active life. Let us go cheerfully, hopefully, and earnestly, and set ourselves to find our especial part. When we have found it, willingly and faithfully perform it; for every obstacle we overcome, every success we achieve tends to bring man closer to God." Helen believed that God helped her through her illness. "Among the great teachers of all time she occupies a commanding and conspicuous place. . . . The touch of her hand did more than illuminate the pathway of a clouded mind; it literally emancipated a soul." Once she got her hand on something she knew what it could be. Helen believed God helped her get throughout her life.

Helen Keller was an American author who lived to educate and inspire others to become the most unique author of her time. She was a gifted woman who had exceptional writing abilities. She utilized simplistic style to correspond with all varieties of people. She wrote to inspire people and to help disabled people achieve their goals. Her writing style was full of many types of diction, syntactic devices, and patterns of imagery to exemplify her life chronicle. Keller used an unadorned tone with superb expressions and descriptions.

Helen’s family has taught her that she can do anything that she wants to. Her manners are extremely poor. Additionally, later on, Annie says, “She ate from her own plate. She ate with a spoon. Herself.

Helen Keller was born normal, however, shortly after being born she suffered an illness that caused her to be both blind and deaf. There is a movie about Helen’s struggle called “The Miracle Worker”. There is also a story by Helen Keller with called “The Day Language Came into My Life”. Both the story and the movie, display how the miracles of language and learning allowed Helen to overcome many obstacles in her life. This essay’s purpose is to perform a literary critique of both the movie and the excerpt about Helen Keller. Anne and Helen’s characters, points of view, and situation show the constant struggle of the desire for more knowledge even though the odds are against her.