The Impact of Hope on Helen Keller, Elie Wiesel, and My Life

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There are people all over the world now who are scared and feel like there is no hope for them, but many people keep going, pushing, fighting through the tough times. They can do it because they have hope. Hope, an essential element of survival, is seen in history when Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, was taught to communicate by a single person. In Elie Wiesel's book, Night, when Elie and his father rely on each other’s hope in order to survive, and within my own family when my brother was diagnosed with autism.

Helen Keller's story and her breakthrough moment only came to be because of Anne Sullivan's faith in Helens ability to learn. Anne Sullivan was hired by the Kellers to help Helen behave. When Anne met Helen she realized that Helen could do so much more in life than just behave, so she began to teach her to fingerspell. “Anne took Helen out to the water pump and put the water over her hand and finger spelt W-A-T-E-R. At that second, Helen understood. Everything had a name. Each word belonged to one of the objects that Helen had known all her life.” (Garrett 38). At this moment Helen understood and the world suddenly changed for her. Anne had hope for Helen when no one else did. Helens family was skeptical, but Anne showed them she had hope in Helen and believed she could learn, and in the end all it took was a little dedication and hope to change Helens life.

Before Anne could begin to teach Helen she had to form a friendship and trust with her; on the day Anne met her, Helen was upset and did not want her to touch her hands or try to make her do something, such as waiting to be handed something instead of taking. Helen was angry and locked Anne in her bedroom, then she hid the key in her mouth; this was when An...

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Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.

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