Miracle Worker Quotes

Annie Sullivan was a determined teacher, who taught a blind and deaf girl to communicate with her family. In the play, “The Miracle Worker” written by William Gibson, Helen Keller was a blind and deaf child, who was born in Alabama, in the late 1800’s. Her parents, Kate and Captain Keller, were at a loss for a solution, until they hired Annie Sullivan, a young teacher who was curious about Helen’s condition and wanted to teach her how to interact and communicate with others. Time passes, and Annie starts to teach Helen with a feisty manner, as she starts using force to teach Helen how to respect Annie and her family. At the end, Annie had successfully taught Helen respect and discipline, and how to sign an vast amount of words. Annie Sullivan was a teacher to a deaf and blind girl. Throughout the story, Annie was curious, feisty and caring, and

taught the dramatic child an abundance of skills.

To begin with, Annie Sullivan was curious in teaching Helen, and interested in her ways of living. As Keller and Kate’s faith was fading in finding someone to help Helen, they were tempted to send her to an asylum. During this period, Annie had just accepted a teaching job to a blind and deaf girl, Helen Keller. Upon first meeting her, Kate asks Ms. Sullivan why she was interested in the job, and little things about herself. Annie had stated that, Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye” [Gibson 266]. Here, Annie is expressing her feelings towards communication, and how much she wants to teach Helen how to learn this skill. Another factor on why Annie wanted to work with Helen was that she felt that she could relate to her hardships and has a higher intelligence about this subject than others. Annie states, “I’ve been blind” [Gibson 265]. Here, Annie is explaining why she would be a good teacher to Helen, and how she could relate to her. She also states that she is young, and as that is a good thing, as she needs to be enthusiastic towards the girl whilst teaching. Conclusively, Annie had accepted a teaching job for Helen Keller, a blind and deaf girl, as she was interested in working with her, and was confident in her skills and connections with the girl.

In the middle of the story, Annie starts getting impatient with Helen, and starts using force to discipline her.

In this period of time, Helen had been throwing tantrums recently, and had shown a lack of manners at the dinner table. This causes Annie to snap and get into a feisty attitude. The text states, “Annie grips her wrists again … the struggle mounts” [Gibson 280]. In this quote, Helen had been misbehaving at the dinner table, grabbing food from others’ plates, and throwing silverware across the room. In order for her to cooperate, Annie had to grab her wrists and use force on Helen, as the only way to make her listen. Another example of this includes, "Annie puts another spoon in her hand. Helen throws it on the floor..." [Gibson 286]. Here, Helen is continuously disregarding Annie's acts of help, as she does not want to follow her ways. As Helen does this, Annie repeatedly places another spoon in her hand, as soon she throws the utensil, so she would learn how to obey Annie, and learn manners. With this, Annie starts getting frustrated with Helen's lack of cooperation, and starts using force to teach

her.

Finally, at the end of the story, Annie had started showing more optimism in her work, and was showing Helen more care and compassion, something that she had lacked showing before. At this point of the play, Annie had realized that violence and force was not needed to teach Helen, and that respect and discipline were key. The text states, "Then Helen slides into Annie's arms and lifting her smoked glasses, kisses her on the cheek. Annie gathers her in."[Gibson 316]. In this quote, a miracle had just occurred, as Helen had just said the word, "wah-wah" which caused everyone in the Keller residence to burst into a great happiness. Everyone was in shock, as Helen said this sound while touching the running water. After all this time, Helen had been learning all these new words, and had learned to love Annie, as she helped her to communicate. Also, as Helen learned to love Annie, Annie had learned to love Helen, "I love Helen" [Gibson 316]. In this final section of the book, Annie is expressing her love towards Helen, putting aside the hardships their relationship has gone through, and just appreciating each other, and how much one another had impacted the other's life. Finally, Annie had successfully taught Helen how to communicate with her family, and through their journey together, they have learned to love each other.

In conclusion, Annie Sullivan is a crucial part of "The Miracle Worker," as she has changed a tremendous amount of times throughout the story and had a major impact on all of the characters. Annie was a young lady who was interested in working with blind and deaf children and accepted a teaching job for Helen Keller. While teaching her, Annie gets frustrated with the fact that Helen was not obeying her and as she demanded obedience, Annie had started to act feisty and use force on Helen to make her learn. Later, she then realized that Helen was actually learning from her lessons, which resulted in a miracle that impacted to lives of her, and the Keller's forever. Conclusively, Annie Sullivan had undoubtedly changed throughout the story, and was an important lady who changed the lives of many.