What roles did Helen's parents play in The Story of My Life by Helen Keller?

Helen Keller's parents were extremely supportive of their daughter.  As a toddler, an illness left Helen deaf and blind.  Her parents did not know what to do, but they sought help.  They contacted Alexander Graham Bell, who advised that they contact "Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston."  It was through Mr. Anagnos that they found Annie Sullivan, the woman who would become Helen's lifelong teacher and companion.  

Helen's parents hired Ms. Sullivan and had her come live in their home. While sometimes hesitant, they usually supported Ms. Sullivan in her attempts to educate Helen.  When Helen was able to communicate, they continued to support her.  After her father's death, Helen's mother sent her to the Cambridge School for Young Ladies to prepare for Radcliffe College.  Her mother stayed involved in Helen's life, and she withdrew her from the school when she felt that a private tutor would be a better option.

Though Helen's parents were supportive and involved in her life, it was Ms. Sullivan that supported her on a day-to-day basis.  This was especially the case after Helen moved away from the family home.

In The Story of My Life, how are Helen's parents role models for others?

In The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, the image of Helen's parents is most certainly one which reveals patient, dedicated, tireless and committed parents. As the story is autobiographical and told from Helen's perspective, the reader only glimpses the real impact of Helen's debilitating illness on the other members of her family. At only nineteen months old, Helen is left blind and deaf and spends the next several years in a "silent, aimless, dayless" world. It is obvious that she struggles to communicate and her parents are her refuge. Helen credits her mother as being responsible for "all that was bright and good in my long night" (chapter 2) and Helen knows that her father is "most loving and indulgent." Even after Mildred, Helen's baby sister is born and Helen feels resentment, her parents protect her. Helen's mother prevents a tragedy when she stops Helen from tipping Mildred out of the cot that Helen feels is reserved for her beloved doll, Nancy and not for "an intruder."  

Helen's mother is encouraged by the story of Laura Brightman, a blind and deaf girl who, despite her handicap, was successfully educated and Helen's parents continue their quest to find a way to help Helen. It is a visit to Baltimore which will mark the start of Helen's miraculous transformation. Without her parents' dedication, this would never have taken place and therefore, anyone reading this autobiography will certainly recognize that Helen's parents are indeed role models. They remind other parents never to give up and the extraordinary lengths they go to in order to secure Helen an education are testament to their immeasurable capacity for love, understanding and acceptance. They teach parents that their best will always be good enough but that striving to always provide the best can be challenging but enormously rewarding.      

How are Helen Keller's parents portrayed as role models in The Story of My Life?

Arthur and Kate Keller were determined to find help for their daughter, Helen.  Helen became deaf and blind when she was one year old.  In the 1880s, children with such severe disabilities were often sent away to live in asylums or at boarding schools.  They were sometimes not expected to learn or live normal lives.  Helen's parents did not feel this way.

As Helen grew older and tried to communicate, Mr. and Mrs. Keller "were deeply grieved and perplexed."  They wanted to help their daughter, but they did not know how.  They began to research options.  They did not live anywhere near a "school for the blind or the deaf."  Helen's mother read "American Notes" by Charles Dickens.  She read about "his account of Laura Bridgman, and remembered vaguely that she was deaf and blind, yet had been educated."  Her father discovered an "eminent oculist in Baltimore."  They traveled there "to see if anything could be done for [Helen's] eyes."  When they arrived in Baltimore, Helen's parents were disappointed to find out that the doctor could not do anything to fix Helen's eyes.  He did, however, recommend that the Kellers contact the inventor Alexander Graham Bell.  He might know about ways to educate the deaf and blind.

They "went immediately to Washington to see Dr. Bell."  He was able to direct them as to ways to educate Helen.  Alexander Graham Bell was helpful and he "advised [her] father to write to Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston."  It was through Mr. Anagnos that Anne Sullivan was sent to the Keller homestead to be Helen's teacher.  This changed her life.  Helen's parents were determined and did not give up until they found a way to educate their daughter.  Other parents who have children with disabilities can look at their perseverance and hopefully be inspired.