Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute since infancy because of a severe case of scarlet fever, is in danger of being sent to an institution as her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. Unable to communicate her desires, the isolated Helen flew into uncontrollable rages that terrified her helpless family. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" named Annie Sullivan to tutor their daughter. Through persistence and love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate. From the point of view of language it is easy to say that Keller had none, however, it wasn't her inability to talk that refrained her from communicating throughout the story, it was her inability to be taught. Sullivan was bought in as a desperate plea to save the young girl, being half blind herself Sullivan used all her experience of being different to tame Keller. Sullivan is strict in the way she speaks to and about Keller, she refuses to accept that there is no hope for this girl and determines that the reason she has no way of communication or discipline for that matter derives from the way she has been brought up and permitted to behave by her parents. Sullivan uses sign language at the start of her and Keller's relationship by teaching her what each sign means, was able to communicate with her, and by teaching Keller's mother the signs gave her the chance to communicate with her daughter also. As Keller's understanding of language develops Sullivan uses a more stern approach that focuses more on the way she behaves than the ability to communicate and after spending many days and nights teaching Keller the correct way to behave finally gets through her stubborn exterior and teaches Keller how to communicate in her own way.
The "miracle" in The Miracle Worker occurs when Sullivan and Keller are at the well refilling a pitcher of water. It is in this moment that Helen Keller makes the intellectual connection between the word Sullivan spells into her hand and the concrete substance splashing from the pump. Keller demonstrates her epiphany by miraculously whispering the word "Wa-wa."
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