THE STORY OF MY LIFE -CHAPTER 6

2. Helen Adams Keller was an
American author, political activist
and lecturer. She was the first deaf
blind person to earn a bachelor of
arts degree.Helen Keller was born on
June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia,
Alabama. She had two younger
siblings, Mildred Campbell and
Phillip Brooks Keller.Her father,
Arthur H. Keller,spent many years as
an editor for the Tuscumbia .Her
mother, Kate Adams was the
daughter of Charles W. Adams.

3. Summary

4. The children who can hear can easily acquire
language without any difficulty, by hearing to others.
But for a deaf child it becomes slow and often
painful process, however slow and painful the
process, the result is wonderful.
At first when Helen’s teacher introduced a
new thing she asked very few questions. As time
passed her field of enquiry enlarged. Helen
remembers when she first asked Miss Sullivan The
meaning of the word ‘Love’, but Miss Sullivan
without answering the real meaning left her with the
word.

5. One day Helen was putting beads of different
sizes. Finally she noticed a very obvious error in the
sequence. That time Miss Sullivan spelled ‘Think’.
And in a flash Helen knew that ‘Think ‘ was the name
of the process that was going in her mind. This was
Helen’s first perception of an abstract idea. Then
suddenly the sun broke forth in all its glory. She asked:
“Is this not love?” She replied that ‘we can’t touch
love but we can feel ‘the sweetness it pours into
everything. The beautiful truth burst upon Helen’s
mind.
Miss Sullivan continued the process for several

6. Charac
ter
Sketch

7. She is considered as one of the heroic figures
who had overcome extreme hardship inorder
to achieve her life time goals and aims of
life.Though she found herself completely
drowned is silence and darkness she began to
learn to read and write mainly due to her
persistence and perseverance.She always
craved to communicate with the world around
and get connected to them.She loved the
outdoors and longed to experience it. By the
brilliant use of words and concepts she could
not only understand the physical world but
also the world of concepts,ideas and
emotions.This ability to communicate made
her persue her career as a lecturer and writer.

8. Anne Sullivan is best known as Helen Keller’s
teacher and companion who connected her with
the outside world. Miss Sullivan was not only
successful in bringing Helen out of darkness
and uncertainty, but also was instrumental in
making her think and there by helping her
make a connection between the abstract and
the physical world.
Miss Sullivan and Helen Keller were together
for forty-nine years. During this period, Miss
Sullivan strived hard to mentor Helen in all
possible ways. Whether it was reading books
indoors or exploring the world outside, Miss
Sullivan was Helen’s constant companion.