Themes: Perception and Prejudice

Throughout the play, Annie is the only person who sees Helen as an equal. While Helen’s parents love her, they feel she is “impaired,” lacking the ability to reason and learn. Because they see her blindness and deafness as deficits, they don’t treat Helen like a person. They give in to her tantrums and provide Helen with a life that allows her to survive instead of thrive. Although Helen’s family loves her, their negative perceptions of her...

Themes: The Importance of Communication

The main conflict of Gibson’s play centers on the Keller’s family struggle to communicate with their daughter, which causes pain and suffering for all involved. However, the communication issues in the Keller household extend far beyond Helen’s disabilities. The family is unable to communicate with Helen, but they’re also blind to the fact that they struggle to communicate with each other. It’s not until the family encounters Annie’s direct...

Themes: Perseverance and Patience

Annie arrives at the Keller home to find a child who has never been disciplined. While her ultimate goal is to teach Helen to communicate, she quickly realizes she has far more work to do before she can begin to teach Helen the intricacies of language. She must first teach Helen the word “no.”

Helen kicks, stabs, pinches, and slaps Annie numerous times, but Annie never gives up. She continues to reinforce each rule or lesson, never letting...

Themes: Love and Letting Go

Throughout Gibson’s play, the audience witnesses different types of relationship conflict, each dynamic wrought with past scars and present difficulties. Through Kate and Arthur, Arthur and James, the Kellers and Helen, and Helen and Annie, the audience bears witness to a group of people in need of love. However, the characters’ expectations and past hurts make it impossible for these relationships to grow in positive directions.

Each...