C-1

Helen felt some hesitation while writing her story. She thinks writing down autobiography is
a hard task. It is not easy to present the exact picture of childhood as she could not clearly
distinguish between the facts and fancy as lots of years passed by. She had forgotten many
important events of her childhood in the process of learning new things.

Helen Keller was born on 27th June, 1880 in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern Alabama.
She was eldest daughter of Arthur H. Keller who was a captain in the Confederate Army and
Kate Adams. Her father’s ancestors came from Switzerland and settled in Maryland.

The beginning of her life was just like any other child. It was decided that she should be
named after her grandmother but her father lost her name on the way of church for baptism.
When being asked he told her name Helen Adams and she got her name.

She could walk when she was a year old. Happy days were going but when she was nineteen
months old she got ill. The doctor identified illness as acute congestion of the stomach and
brain. This illness took away her eyesight and her hearing ability. Gradually, she got used to
silence and darkness until her teacher came in her life.

C-2

Helen didn’t remember what happened to her during first months after her illness. She
started identifying objects through hands. After her sickness, she started using crude signs to
communicate with others. She learned to fold and put away the clean clothes were brought
from the laundry and distinguished her own from the rest. She also knew that she always
begged her mother and aunt to go out with them. Gradually, she realized that she was
different from other people because she used signs to communicate with other whereas other
talked with their mouths. She was a naughty child.

She became friend with a little-coloured girl Martha Washington, the daughter of her cook.
Martha understood Helen’s signs without any difficulty. Helen always pressurizes her and
made her do what she wanted to do. Both together, spent a lot of time in the kitchen,
kneading dough balls, making ice-cream, grinding coffee, quarreling over the cake bowl and
feeding hens and turkeys. They also hunt for the eggs in the long grass.

Once while drying her wet apron before the fire, she ended up getting too close to the fire.
Suddenly, the apron caught fire. She made terrified noise which was heard by her old nurse
who came and rescues her by throwing a blanket over her.

With the passage of time, she learnt to use a key. She played a prank on her mother by
locking her in the pantry. She also played this same prank on her teacher Anne Sullivan
when she arrived. Her family which consists of her father, mother, two older half-brothers
and later a little sister.
Helen’s father was loving and indulgent. He was a good hunter and famous story-teller. He
used to spell words into her hand and she had to repeat them. Her father was editor a
newspaper which she knew later. Her father expired in the summer of 1896 when she was
enjoying in the North. This was her first personal experience with death.

C-3

With the passage of time, Helen desires to express herself grew. Few signs she used to
communicate became less and less adequate. She felt helpless and miserable. Her parents
were in sorrow and confused. There was no school for the blind or the deaf in Tuscumbia
where they lived. Her mother came across Dicken’s ‘American Notes’ in which it was
written about Laura Bridgman who was deaf and blind and still got educated by Dr. Howe
but he had died long ago and his method of teaching probably died with him.

Helen’s father heard about Dr. Chisholm, a famous eye surgeon who lived in Baltimore who
had successful in several cases. He took her to Baltimore. Helen enjoyed the journey of the
train. She did not experience any fits of temper during her journey as there were so many
things to keep her mind and fingers busy.

They met Dr. Chisholm but he did no good to her. The doctor advised them to consult Dr.
Alexander Graham Bell who can give her proper education. They went to Washington where
they met Dr. Bell. He examined her with sympathy. The doctor advised her father to write to
Mr. Anagnos, Director of the Perkins Institute in Boston. Her father wrote to the director and
within a few week, he got positive reply from him that a competent teacher had been found.
This was summer of 1886 but Anne Sullivan, her teacher did not arrive until the following
march who took Helen from darkness to light.

C-4

On the third March of 1887, Miss Anne Sullivan arrived at Keller family’s house. Helen was
six years and nine months old at that time. On the day of arrival of Miss Anne, busy
activities were happening in the house indicated to her that something unusual was going to
happen.

Miss Sullivan gave Helen a doll which was a gift from the little blind students of the Perkins
Institute and was dressed by Laura Bridgeman. When she was playing with it, the teacher
spelled d.o.l.l. on her hand. Helen imitates it and felt extreme proud. Gradually, she was able
to spell many words such as pin, hat, cup, sit, stand and walk. It took several weeks for
Helen to realize that everything has a name. The teacher explained her that mug and water
are different words but she was confused between the two. In rage, she broke her doll on the
floor. She felt neither sorrow nor regret for the fragments.

Sullivan took her to the well-house and placed her one hand under the spout of water and
spelled into the other hand the word, w.a.t.e.r. Now, everything is clear before her. On
returning, she tried to put the fragments of doll together. She wept on what she had done.
With the passage of time, she learned many new words that day including father, mother
sister.

C-5

This chapter contains the description of Helen’s experiences during the summer of 1887. She
continued exploring objects with her hands. She learned name of many objects. Her
knowledge about the world was increasing day by day.

The teacher took her to the banks of the Tennessee River. Helen got the first lessons of
nature there. She learned how nature works such as how the sun and the rain help the plant in
growing, how birds build their nests, how animals get food. She felt the beauty of nature.

One day while travelling, they stopped under a tree which was short distance from her house.
Her teacher helped Helen to climb up a tree. They decided to have lunch there so, Miss
Sullivan went to house to fetch the food. Suddenly, the weather changed and a thunderstorm
started which created fear in Helen. Trees started to swing. She was afraid that she would fall
but Miss Sullivan arrived at that moment and helped her down. This time she came to know
about another face of nature which was not very beautiful. Nature is also destructive.

After this experience, she climbed another tree after a long time. One day, she was lured to
climb a ‘Mimosa tree’ by its beautiful fragrance. She could not resist and climb the branches
of the tree. She kept on climbing higher and higher until she reached a little seat somebody
had built there. She spent many happy hours there.

C-6

Learning language is a slow and painful process for a deaf and blind person but the result is
wonderful. Helen had learned many words and her area of inquiry broadened. She returned
to the subject again and again for further information. One day Helen brought violets to her
teacher.

Miss Sullivan tried to kiss her but she did not like it so, Sullivan put her arm around Helen
to show her affection and spelled into her hand, “I love Helen”. ‘Love’ was a new word for
Helen so she asked her the meaning of love. Miss Sullivan pointed towards her heart and told
her that love is here. But Miss Sullivan could not show her what love is.

After some days, Helen was arranging the beads in a symmetrical pattern but found it
difficult. Miss Sullivan touched her forehead and spelled ‘Think’ on her hand. She
understood that the word is the name of the process going on in her mind. This was her first
conscious perception of an abstract idea. Later, her teacher explained that love cannot be
touched but you can feel the sweetness that love pours into everything. Without love a
person would not be happy or want to play.

Miss Sullivan encouraged her to participate in the conversation which was a difficult task for
deaf and blind. Miss Sullivan also provided her several words and idioms to express Helen’s
thoughts by spelling into her hand. This process continued for several years and gradually
she came on the right track.

C-7

Once Helen could spell a few words, her teacher gave her slips of cardboard with raised
letters printed on them. She quickly learned that each printed word stood for an object, an act
or a quality. She had a frame in which she arranged letters to form words and then make
them into sentences. The printed slips were a step towards the printed books. She was given
a book ‘Reader for beginners’ in which she hunted for the words she knew. Miss Sullivan
had great power of description which made Helen easily understood.

They read and studied outdoors mostly and used different objects from nature to understand
the concepts. Her favourite walk was to the Keller’s Landing, an old wharf on the Tennessee
River. Miss Sullivan taught her Geography in an interesting manner. She built dams with
pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds. Miss Sullivan also taught her
arithmetic, botany and zoology in same leisurely manner.

A gentleman gifted Helen a collection of fossils. With the help of those fossils, Miss Sullivan
explained her about prehistoric creatures.

Another time a beautiful shell was given to her which helped her to learn about the habitat of
the marine animals. Miss Sullivan taught her the growth of a plant by making observations
on a growing lily plant kept on the window.

Miss Sullivan was a genius teacher for her. She showed sympathy and love for Helen. She
made education easy and interesting for her. Helen developed great intimacy with her
teacher.

C-8

This chapter contains the descriptions of first Christmas Eve after the arrival of Miss
Sullivan. Everyone in the family was planning surprises for Helen. Helen was also preparing
her surprises with her teacher. They kept up a guessing game which taught Helen more about
the use of language. They played the guessing game every evening which grew more and
more interesting with each day.

On Christmas Eve, the Tuscumbia schoolchildren had their decorated tree to which they
invited Helen. She was delighted when she was asked to hand the presents to the children.
Helen was giving gifts to others but also wanted to know what she was to receive on that
Eve.

Helen could not sleep properly that night. In the morning, when she got up she found a lot of
gifts for her. She was most delighted by her teacher’s gift which is a canary. Helen named
the bird as ‘Tim’. Her teacher taught her to take all the care of the bird. One day she left the
cage on the window and the bird fell a prey to a cat. She understood that she would never see
her sweet singer again

C-9

In May 1888, Helen visited Boston with Miss Sullivan and her mother. Two years before she
made a journey to Baltimore but she found a lot of difference between two journeys. She
became mature so she was no longer required the attention of everybody on the train to keep
her amused. Miss Sullivan told her all about what she saw out of the window. Her doll was
Nancy was with her.

In Boston, Helen was admitted to Perkins institute which was for blind children. She Helen
had a sad experience when her doll, Nancy became dirty. The laundress at the institute
secretly took it away and gave it a bath which made the doll formless heap of cotton. The
other children talked like her and read the same book however other children could hear the
sound while Helen could not.

She visited the Bunker Hill where she had her first history lesson. She climbed the highest
point which was once used by the soldiers to shoot their enemies.

The next day, they went to Plymouth by water. It was her first voyage on a steamboat. The
noise of the machine frightened her and she thought it was thundering. A gentleman gave her
a model of Plymouth Rock at Pilgrim Hall. She felt the model in her hand which reminded
her wonderful stories of the bravery of the Pilgrims but she was disappointed to know about
their shameful acts of persecuting minority groups.

She made friends with Mr. William Endicott and his daughter. She found them very kind and
generous. She even visited their homes and played with their dogs and horse. She called the
Boston as ‘The City of Kind Hearts’.

C-10

Just before the Perkins Institute closed for the summer, it was planned that Helen’s teacher
and she would spend vacation at Brewster on Cape Cod with their friend, Mrs Hopkins.
Helen was delighted as she had heard many wonderful stories about the sea. She lived in the
far inland and read in a big book called ‘Our World’ a description of the ocean and eager to
touch the sea and feel it roar.

Once at the sea shore, she plunged into the sea water without any fear. She was enjoying it
until her foot struck against a rock and the water rushed over her head. She found no proper
thing to hold as there was nothing except water and sea weeds. She was fortunate that the
waves threw her back on the shore where her teacher picked her up in the arms. After she
had recovered from the incident, she enjoyed watching the waves dashing against the rocks.

Miss Sullivan drew her attention to a big horseshoe crab. Helen thought that it would be a
delightful pet so she carried the heavy crab all the way to their house. She carefully placed
the crab in a trough. But the next morning when she went there to see her pet, the crab was
not there. Helen later realised her mistake of separating the crab from his habitat. She
thought that the crab had returned to sea and she felt happy

C-11

Helen returned to her Southern home. She felt happy whenever she recall the memories of
North. There she got a lot of information, experiences variety of things. She spent her
autumn months with her family at their summer cottage, on a mountain about 14 miles from
Tuscumbia, called Fern Quarry, because there was limestone quarry, long since
deserted.Three streams ran over it and tumbled down in waterfalls wherever rocks tried to
block their way. The place was surrounded by tall trees. The mountain was thickly wooded.

Their cottage was like a “rough camp” situated on top of a mountain among oaks and pines.
The small rooms were arranged on each side of a long open hall. Many visitors came to Fern
Quarry. In the evening, by the campfire, men played cards and shared their hunting
experiences. She woke up in the morning with the sound of rattling guns and the smell of
coffee. All men went off to hunt. Later in the morning, a barbecue was planned. The savoury
odour of the meat made her hungry. The hunting party also returned without a single hunt
and joined the feast.

Helen had a pony and she named him Black Beauty as she had just read the book.
Occasionally, she rode the pony accompanied by her teacher. Sometimes, she also gathered
persimmons and nuts with her sister Mildred and cousins. At the foot of mountains, there
was a railroad and about a mile distant was a trestle spanning a deep gorge. One day when
she, along with her sister and Miss Sullivan, got lost in the woods. Mildred pointed out
towards the trestle. The walked over it. Suddenly, a train came by and they climbed down
upon the crossbraces. They regained the track and reached home safely. They found the
cottage empty as everyone gone to look for them.

C-12

After her first visit to Boston, she started to visit North in every winter. Once she went to
visit New England. The lakes are frozen and hills and fields are covered with snow. There
she experienced snowfall. She found trees were almost stripped leaving only a few wrinkled
leaves on them.

One day, a snowstorm came. All rushed to outside to feel the tiny flakes falling down.
Gradually, all the road was covered by snow. In the evening, a wind from the northeast came
and flakes flew in various directions. Helen with others spent their time sitting around the
fire telling stories. At night, the wind became furious and thrilled them with unsure terror.
The trees around the house pulled and rattled and beat against the windows and they can
heard them creaking and breaking. On third day, the snow storm ended and the sun appeared.
When the rays of the sun fell upon the trees, their twigs sparkled like diamonds. Helen’s
favourite amusement during this occasion was tobogganing. She enjoyed very much.

C-13

In the spring of 1890, Helen learnt to speak. After the loss of the ability of hearing, she also
stopped talking. When she was in mother’s lap, she would move her hand on her face to fell
how her lips moved. She made many sounds not to speak but for the exercise of her vocal
chords. She also remembered the first word that she uttered was water. With the help of her
teacher she practised to communicate by feeling letters with her fingers but she was not
satisfied and desperately wanted to learn to speak.

In 1890, Mrs Lamson, one of the teachers at the Perkins Institutions came to see Helen and
told her about a deaf and blind girl, Ragnhild Kaata who had been taught to speak. The story
generated a new hope in Helen and she resolved that she would also speak. Miss Sullivan
took her for advice and assistance to Miss Sarah Fuller, the principal of Horace Mann
School.

Miss Fuller was a sweet natured lady. She started tutoring Helen in March, 1980. She passed
Helen’s hand lightly over her face and let her feel the position of her tongue and lips when
she made sound. After a long practice, Helen uttered a sentence which is ‘It is warm’. The
syllables were broken but they were human speech. Miss Fuller giver her total eleven
lessons.

She continued her practise with Miss Sullivan. Her teacher called her attention to the
mispronounced words. Sometimes she became very disappointed but soon came out from
disappointment.

Lastly, her happiest day arrived. She had made speech her own. Helen reached Tuscumbia
railway station and thought about the joy of her family members would be seeing her talk
like a normal person.

C-14
In this chapter, Helen described her darkest phase of her life. An incident occurred which
turned her childhood’s joy into doubt, fear and anxiety. The main cause was a story called
‘The Frost King’, which she wrote and sent to Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institute
on her Birthday.

She wrote the story when she was at home, the autumn after she learnt to speak. When she
was writing book, she did not realize that the words and images coming to her mind without
effort were not her own.

After completion of story, Helen read it to her friends and family. They were impressed with
writing of Helen. Someone asked her if she had read the story in a book in answer she denied
and told that it was her own story. Mr. Anagnos was delighted to receive the story and
published it in a report of Perkins Institution. She felt like she had touched peak of success.

After the publication, it was discovered that her story was almost the similar to a story
named ‘The Frost Fairies’ written by Miss Margaret T. Canby appeared in a book named
‘Birdie and His Friends’. The content of both story are so similar that it was clear that
Helen’s story was plagiarism.

This was a great shock for Helen. A few day after the incident, she went to attend
Washington’s Birthday celebration. The night before the celebration, one of the teachers
asked her about the incident but she denied that she have ever heard Canby’s story but the
teacher came to conclusions that Helen still remember that story and told to Mr. Anagnos.
He believed that Helen and Miss Sullivan had deliberately stolen the thoughts of a great
writer to win his appreciation.

Helen was brought before a court of investigation composed of the teachers and officers of
the institution. She was questioned and cross-questioned to force her to acknowledge that she
remembered ‘The Frost Fairies’ story. She felt heavy at heart and responded to those
questions only in monosyllables. Finally, she was allowed to leave the room. She did not
noticed her teacher or friends. She wept that night in her bed and imagined that she should
die before morning and the thought comforted her.

Miss Sullivan had never heard ‘The Frost Fairies’. With the assistance of Dr. Alexander
Graham Bell, Miss Sullivan investigated the matter carefully. Lastly came out that story had
been narrated to Helen by Mrs. Sophia Hopkins when she had spent a summer with her at
Brewster.

After the incident, she received many letters of love and sympathy from loved ones. She also
received a kind note from Miss Canby herself inspiring her to write something of her own in
future. All the things were making Helen easy but still she was afraid of writing again.

Later, she came to know that she had absorbed that story very much and used its ideas and
language in her writing. This thing was explained by R.L. Stevenson who said that young
writers spontaneously tries to copy whatever seems most admirable to them.

Miss Sullivan encouraged her to continue writing. This incident taught Helen about the
problems in the writing but she also lost her dearest friend Mr. Anagnos. She included this
chapter because it was important in her life and education.

C-15

After the 'Frost King' incident, Helen spent summer and winter with her family in Alabama.
She was very happy. The 'Frost King' was forgotten.

In the autumn, she began to write a sketch of her life, one year after the incident. She became
very careful for her writing now. She started fearing that everything she writes might not her
thinking. Only her teacher knows about this fear she had. Miss Sullivan consoled and helped
in every possible way and encourage her for writing. She persuaded her to write for the
'Youth's Companion', a brief account of her life. Gradually, she emerged from the shadow of
her disappointing experience.

The chief events of the year 1893 were her trip to Washington during the inauguration of
president Cleveland, and visits to Niagra and the World's fair.

In March 1893, Helen visited Niagara and found it outstanding. She found it difficult to
describe her emotions produced in her heart while she stood near the Niagara falls and felt
the air vibrate and the earth tremble. Many people found it strange that she was impressed by
the beauties of Niagara without watching and hearing.

During the summer of 1893, she visited World's fair with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and
Miss Sullivan. She found that this place turned her childish imaginations into beautiful
relaities. She found many wonders of earth. She saw the idols of Shiva and Ganesh,
Pyramid's coutry Egypt. mosques of Cairo city, lagoons of italy. She visited the ship used by
the Columbus during the discovery of America. She learned about the process of mining
diamonds and touched the machinery. In electrical builiding, she examined he telephones,
autphones, phonographs and other inventions. Dr Graham Bell made her understood about
the working of these devices. From the relics, shelearned more about the progress of the
man. These experiences added a many new terms to Helen's vocabulary.

C-16

Before October 1893, Helen had studied various subjects in an unsystematic way. She read
the histories of Greece, Rome and the United States. She already knew some French and now
she started learning French grammar. She acquired a sufficient knowledge of French to read
passages and fables. She also learned the correct pronunciation of French with the help of her
teacher, Miss Sullivan.

After being recovered from the fatigue and excitement of World's fair, she undertook a
journey to Pennsylvania with Miss Sullivan. They stayed with the family of Mr. William
Wade. His neighbour, Mr. Irons taught Helen Latin grammar and also helped her in
arithmetic. She studied Tennyson's 'In Memoriam' and became aware of the author and
recognize his particular style of writing. She started Caesar's 'Gallic War' when she went her
home in Alabama.

C-17

Helen attended the meeting Chautauqua of the American Association in the summer of 1894.
The meeting was held to promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. In the meeting, it was
arranged that Helen should go to the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf located in the
New York City with Miss Sullivan. She went there in October 1894. The school was well-
known for vocal culture and training in lip reading.
Helen spent two years in the school and studied arithmetic, physical geography, French and
German. Helen started understanding German within months however she found French
more difficult. Her progress in lip reading and speech was not fast as her teachers and she
hoped for. Helen had ambition to talk like other people. She worked hard for this but there
was no positive result. These disappointments caused her depression at times. She started
other studies tirelessly. She found physical geography interesting subject. He learned how
winds blow, how the vapours rise, how rivers cut out among the rocks and in what ways man
may overcome many forces mightier than himself which gave her great joy.

She also remembered walk that all of them take together every day in Central Park.They also
sailed on Hudson River in summer and saw its green banks. She also visited West Point,
Tarrytown, the home of Washington Irving in New York City.

Before leaving New York, she heard news that made her very sad. Her friend, Mr. John
P.Spaulding, of Boston died in February 1896. His death left a gap in Helen's life that had
never been filled