What is Helen Keller's favorite food in The Miracle Worker?

Helen enjoys eating candies, which everyone in her family gives her (probably because they feel bad for her and want a way to communicate their love for her). Since she is blind and deaf, she cannot easily communicate or understand what is happening around her.

Before Annie Sullivan arrives to teach Helen, several members of the household give Helen sweet treats, not realizing that others have already given her treats. First, her mother (Kate) gives her a peppermint drop. She says,

"I don't think one peppermint drop will spoil your supper."

Soon later, Viney, their servant, gets Helen a tea-cake. She thinks aloud,

"Guess one little tea-cake ain't [going to] ruin your appetite."

Moments later, Helen's father is talking with her. He hands her a large stick candy, saying,

"Here. I brought you some stick candy, one nibble of sweets can't do you any harm."

Within moments, Viney calls out to him, reprimanding him for filling her up with "that trash" before her dinner.

Overall, the family loves Helen, and everyone wants her to be happy. They find ways, such as giving her sweets, to show their concern for her. However, giving her so many treats causes her to think she can have whatever she wants. Most members of the household begin to give into Helen's every wish whenever she gets upset. Her stubborn behavior, caused by spoiling her with everything she wishes for, is part of what Annie Sullivan seeks to fix while teaching Helen.

What actions did Helen Keller take when hungry in The Miracle Worker?

One of the first issues that Annie Sullivan tackles is the Keller family’s failure to socialize Helen into age-appropriate behaviors. Helen’s mother, Kate, tends to spoil her daughter although she believes she is intelligent. Helen’s father, in contrast, assumes that Helen’s disabilities are intellectual as well as physical so she cannot learn such behaviors. Both parents’ attitudes combined into their failure: they have given up on Helen as a growing girl and instead treat her like a toddler.

Helen frequently eats between meals, such as taking teacakes from the sideboard. At meal times, Helen eats in the kitchen separately from the adults. During their meals, her parents allow her to roam around the dining room, grabbing food off the others’ plates.

When Annie joins the family for her first supper, she refuses to let Helen take things from her plate or take the plate itself. Both parents are perturbed by her attitude and urge Annie to give in, which she refuses to do. James tries to placate Helen by giving her a piece of bacon, and Captain Keller tells Annie to use another plate. Annie understands not only that Helen needs to act like other children her age but also that her uncontrolled self-indulgence will become a worse problem as she grows older and stronger.