Coping With Adversity In William Gibson's The Miracle Worker

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In the play The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, there are characters who change throughout the play as a result of how they cope with adversity. The purpose of this essay is to testify to how one specific character has changed as a result of their problem, and how they coped with their adversity. In the play The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, James Keller, faces the challenge of getting his father’s attention and copes by acting and speaking out.
James’ mother passed away when he was young, and after his father got remarried, James faced the obstacle of getting his father’s attention and affection. After James makes a remark at the breakfast table, his father angrily replies, “You be quiet! I’m badgered enough here by females without your impudence.” (pg 257) James and his father are constantly arguing about anything and everything. James was jealous of the attention …show more content…

Everyone in the Keller household ignores him and tells him to be quiet, leaving him even more bitter. When his family ends up angry at him for not informing them Annie was locked in her room, James retorts with, “Well everyone’s been telling me not to say anything.” (pg 272) James feels he can do nothing right by his father, and eventually gives up trying. To Annie he says, “That she isn’t. That there’s such a thing as-dullness of heart. Acceptance. And letting go. Sooner or later we all give up, don’t we?” (pg 294) Towards the end of the play however, James changes and evolves, and stands up to his father. James had started to keep all of his feelings towards his father inside, and finally he stood up for himself, and for Annie, and put his father in his place. James said, “She’s right. Kate’s right, I’m right, and you’re wrong. If you drive her away from here it will be over my dead-chair, has it never occurred to you that on occasion you might be consummately wrong?” (pg

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