3. Helen felt a kind of hesitation before she set on
the task of penning down her autobiography
and, thus, reveal the story of her life.
In addition, the task itself was a difficult one for
Helen looking back, she could hardly distinguish
between the facts and the fancies across the
years.
Furthermore, in the process of learning new
things, she had forgotten many important
incidents and experiences of her childhood.
4. Helen Adams Keller was born on a plantation called
Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27,
1880.
She was the eldest daughter of Captain Arthur H.
Keller, a former officer of the Confederate Army,
and Kate Adams.
Helen was named after her grandmother, Helen
Everett.
Even as an infant, she showed signs of eagerness
and independence.
By the age of six months, Helen attracted
everyone’s attention piping out words like “How
d’ye” and “tea”.
5. In February, 1882, at the age of nineteen
months, Helen fell ill with “an acute
congestion of the stomach and brain”, which
could possibly have been scarlet fever or
meningitis.
This illness left her deaf and blind. Later on,
her spirit was liberated from the “world of
silence and darkness” by her teacher, Anne
Sullivan.
7. After her sickness, Helen started using “crude signs” to communicate
with others.
A shake of the head meant “No” and a nod “Yes”, a pull meant “Come”
and a push, “Go”.
If she wanted anything, she would imitate the relevant action.
Her mother encouraged her by involving her in the household activities.
This made Helen more observant of the actions performed by the
people around her.
Observing herself as different from
others.
Helen started to observe that unlike her, other people did not use signs
for communication but talked with their mouths.
She realized that she was different from others. She attempted to copy
them but in vain.
At times, she released her frustration on her nurse, Elisa, by kicking and
screaming at her until she felt exhausted.
She regretted her misbehavior but did not try to change it.
8. Martha Washington was a little coloured girl who understood Helen’s signs.
She was the cook’s daughter. Martha submissively obeyed Helen, who in
turn enjoyed domineering over her. Both the girls spent a lot of time in the
kitchen, kneading dough balls, grinding coffee, quarrelling over the cake
bowl.
Helen enjoyed feeding the hens and turkeys, and feeling them as they ate
from her hands. She also loved to hunt for guinea-fowl eggs in the long
grass. Even though Helen could not understand Christmas per se, she
enjoyed the preparations leading to that occasion.
One July afternoon, when Helen and Martha were bored of cutting paper
dolls, they came up with the idea of cutting each other’s hair. Helen cut
Martha’s hair and Martha cut off a curl of Helen’s. Martha would have cut
them all if it weren’t for Helen’s mother’s timely intervention.
Belle was a lazy old dog and a companion of Helen. Despite of her
attempts, it was inattentive to her signs and gestures. As a result, Helen
would get frustrated and go looking for Martha.
9. Once, while drying her wet apron in front of the hearth, Helen ended up going
too close to the fire.
Her clothes caught fire. Fortunately, she was saved by the nurse, Viny, who
threw a blanket around her to extinguish the fire. Except for her hands and hair,
she was not badly burnt.
Discovering the use of a key: used as
a tool for mischief
About that time, Helen found out the use of a key. The mischievous Helen
played a prank on her mother by locking her in the pantry.
After Miss Sullivan arrived to teach her, she played the same prank on her.
Helen locked her teacher in her room and refused to reveal the hidden key
. Eventually, her father had to intervene and take Miss Sullivan out of the room
through the window.
When Helen was around five years old, the Keller family moved from the ‘little
vine-covered house’ to a large new one.
10. Helen’s father was loving and indulgent. Helen was fond of the stories
her father narrated to her by forming spellings on her hand.
Her father in turn enjoyed Helen’s reiteration of these stories. Her
father’s death in the summer of 1896 was Helen’s “first great sorrow--
[her] first personal experience with death.”
Helen’s relationship with her baby
sister
Initially, Helen viewed her younger sister, Mildred, as an intruder. She
felt that her sister got all the attention from her mother. Helen vented her
frustration and showed her affection on her doll, Nancy.
Once Helen overturned Nancy’s cradle in which her sister was sleeping.
Fortunately, their mother’s timely arrival saved Mildred. Later, however,
the love between the hearts of the two sisters prospered despite the fact
that neither of them understood the language of the other.
12. Gradually, the few signs that were used by Helen to
communicate became inadequate.
Failure to get across her thoughts led to fits of anger and
frustration in Helen. She felt miserable.
As a result, it became imperative for her parents to find a
teacher or a school for Helen so that she could learn a
better means of communication.
Helen’s mother’s hope was aroused by an account she
read in Dickens’s “American Notes” about the education
of Laura Bridgeman, a deaf and blind student, by Dr.
Howe.
Unfortunately, his methods had possibly died with him.
Besides, it would not be easy to find a teacher who would
come to their distant town in Alabama to teach Helen.
13. Helen was six when her father decided to consult an
oculist in Baltimore for the treatment of Helen’s sight.
Helen enjoyed the new experiences during her trip.
She was happy to receive a box of shells from a lady
and a doll made out of towels from her aunt during
the journey.
She also played with the “punching machine” of the
conductor. In fact, she did not experience any fits of
temper during her journey as there were so many
things to keep her mind and hands busy.
14. At Baltimore, Dr. Chisholm said that there was nothing he could do
about Helen’s sight. However, he advised Helen’s father to consult Dr.
Alexander Graham Bell of Washington, who would be able to guide
them in regards to the education of Helen.
Meeting Dr. Bell was a great experience for Helen. He understood
Helen’s signs, which made her happy. This meeting was the beginning
of a long friendship between Dr. Bell and Helen. Helen later recalled this
interview as the foundation of her journey from darkness to light, “from
isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge and love.”
Dr. Bell advised Mr. Keller to write to Dr. Anagnos, the director of the
Perkins Institute in Boston. Her father wrote to him without any delay
and got a reply in positive. Finally, in the March of 1887, Miss Sullivan
arrived at the Keller house.
17. Born on June 27,1880 in Tuscumbia in Alabama.
Father Captain in the Confederate Army, mother
Kate Adams.
Lived in small house at the time of illness.
House in the midst of lush greenery.
Being first baby, got love of all.
Walked the day, a year old.
Illness in February, rendering her blind and dumb
Illness after 19 months
Memories of broad,greenfields,trees and flowers.
19. At the age of five, Helen learned to fold and put away
clean clothes.
Spent time with Martha Washington and Belle, the dog.
Spent time in playing, in the kitchen, kneading dough
balls, feeding hens, turkeys.
Belle, the dog was a constant companion.
Spilled water on apron, spread to dry near the fire, fire
enveloped, old nurse viny saved Helen.
Locked Helen and Miss. Sullivan for fun sake.
Father was loving and indulgent, famous story teller.
Had Nancy, much-petted, much-abused doll.
Overturned cradle when found Sister sleeping in it.
21. Desire to express herself grow.
Mother re Laura ads Bridgman’s account; how she
being deaf and blind got educated.
Father takes Helen to an eminent oculist in
Baltimore.
Dr.Chisholm, an oculist tells about Dr.Alexander
Graham Bell.
Dr.Bell asks Helen’s father to write to Mr.Anagnos
of Perkins Institution for the Blind to arrange a
teacher for Helen Keller.
Miss Sullivan arrives in March 1887.
