The major theme in Helen Keller's The Story of My Life is that drive and resilience in the face of adversity can lead to success beyond anyone's expectations. Another theme in the book is how important it is to have someone believe in you. In Keller's case, the obstacle she faces is losing her sight and hearing at a young age. At the time, many people thought Helen would never be able to speak, given the extent of her disabilities. However, with the help of her dedicated teacher Anne Sullivan, Keller is able to overcome her physical limitations and learn to speak, read, and write. Keller's desire to learn about the world and make positive contributions leads her to Radcliffe, the prestigious sister university to Harvard. While there, Keller succeeds academically, despite the difficulty of the work and the lack of modern day resources to support her.
Although Keller's drive to learn about the world and make her mark on it is incredible, she likely would never have been as successful as she was if Anne Sullivan hadn't had the faith and patience to believe that she could be taught. It was through Sullivan's incredible support and ingenuity that Keller was given the tools to understand her world and to make her mark in it. Without Anne Sullivan's guidance, Keller may have been forever locked in the dark, confusing, and tumultuous world she had been living in ever since she lost her sight and hearing.
The theme of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is the power of perseverance to overcome great obstacles. Keller is struck with an illness when she is a very young child that makes her blind and deaf, and she exists in a world of confusion. She can not communicate with others but wants desperately to make herself understood and to understand others. She writes of this time, "At times that I kicked and screamed until I was exhausted." Keller, with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, goes on from this state of frustration to learn to write, read, and speak with sign language and Braille. Through endless hours of hard work, she also attends Radcliffe, the sister school of Harvard. In her studies, she has to apply herself with much more dedication than other students, but she does so and triumphs as a result.
Another theme of this book is the power of the right kind of education. As Keller writes, "It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful." Through the power of perseverance and through the thoughtful and enlightened education of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who was trained to work with blind children, Keller blossoms. Sullivan uses the natural world and objects that are dear to Keller, such as her doll, to teach her the names of objects and then to teach her to read. As Keller writes about her early education in the outdoors, "The loveliness of...
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things taught me all their use." Anne Sullivan knows what will motivate Keller, and she uses her gifts as a teacher to teach Keller and enable her to go on to great achievements.
What is a theme of Helen Keller's The Story of My Life?
One theme of Helen Keller's The Story of My Life is perseverance. Despite being disadvantaged by her blindness and deafness and frustrated by the limitations of her sign language, Keller maintains her memories of speech and works to regain her ability to communicate effectively. Even after learning how to communicate with her teacher, Miss Sullivan, and read Braille, Keller is determined to regain her ability to speak and works toward it until she accomplishes her goal. As an adult, Keller decides to attend Radcliffe College, which was not specifically for blind or deaf students. She perseveres through the difficulties of attending a college unequipped to accommodate her. Keller ultimately graduates with honors. Throughout the book, Keller perseveres through the limitations of being blind and deaf and manages to accomplish her goals of communicating, regaining speech, and attending college through hard work and dedication.
What is the theme of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller?
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is an autobiographical account of the first twenty two years of Helen's life. It is not a novel as a novel is a work of fiction, even if sometimes based on a true story. The events that Helen Keller relates all took place before her illness when, much like any infant, "I came, I saw, I conquered" (Ch 1), and after it when she struggles to communicate to the point that she has temper tantrums "daily, sometimes hourly" (ch 3). Eventually Annie Sullivan arrives who will "set my spirit free." (ch 1)
Helen Keller tells this story whilst at Radcliffe College and because she feels inspired to help others who may feel that their problems are insurmountable and cannot be overcome. Helen remembers when she first learned the meaning of words, starting with "W-A-T-E-R" and after that "there were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away." (Ch 4)
The very fact that Helen Keller attends college is testament to her perseverance and determination, the main themes of The Story of My Life. Getting admitted to college creates its own set of problems as Helen does not want to attend as a blind-deaf person but as a capable student; hence, her admittance to Radcliffe which could hardly cater for her disability was fraught with difficulties but Helen "overcame them all." (Ch 19)
Expanding her knowledge and enriching her education are key to Helen Keller and, even as a young child, she explores the garden where she feels at least a certain degree of independence. She takes every new experience and learns something from it to the point that she "learns from life itself." (Ch 7) Her experiences with nature and the elements introduce her to fears and loneliness - such as she is stuck in a tree during a thunder storm - but they also enhance her overall understanding of life, ensuring that she will never give up.