The Miracle Worker

“This child has more sense than all these men Kellers, if there’s ever any way to reach that mind of hers.”

Aunt Ev remarks on Helen’s intelligence at the beginning of the play. This introduces the idea that Helen’s mind is like a locked treasure chest that, if opened, will reveal incredible potential.

“How can you discipline an afflicted child? Is it her fault?”

The Keller’s reluctance to discipline Helen proves to be the very thing that prevents her from living a more fulfilling life. This struggle between their love and pity, and Annie’s “tough love,” drives the play.

“But it has been difficult for you at our school too, hm? Gratifying, yes, when you came to us and could not spell your name, to accomplish so much in a few years, but always an Irish battle. For independence.”

Dr. Anagnos reveals that Annie’s journey toward autonomy began much like Helen’s. Annie’s struggle to be independent was resolved primarily through her education. When Annie learned how to write, she was better able to understand both the world around her and her inner thoughts (as seen in her journaling habit). Annie seemed to be a lost cause to many, but her perseverance paid off, just as Helen’s does.

“I think God must owe me a resurrection.”

Annie replies with this when Dr. Anagnos suggests she try to move on from her traumatic past. Annie may not be able to get her brother back, but her journey with Helen resurrects something she never thought possible: her ability to love.

“Annie, I know how dreadful it was there, but that battle is dead and done with, why not let it stay buried?”

Throughout the play, Annie is haunted by her memories of Tewksbury, the state almshouse where she and her brother, Jimmie, stayed until Jimmie’s death. Her inability to move on from the grief and trauma she experienced limits her ability to love again. When Annie learns to love Helen, the negative voices of Annie’s past begin to fade completely.

“Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye. Dr. Howe said that.”

Language is what Annie longs to teach Helen most. The play emphasizes the importance of American Sign Language (ASL), which at the time of the play was not as widely used as it is today. By adapting ASL, people without the ability to hear (like Helen) were given the gift of communication.

“Here’s a houseful of grownups can’t cope with the child, how can an inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl manage her?”

When Annie first arrives at Ivy Green, Captain Keller is hesitant to believe she is capable of teaching Helen. This doubt stems from three places: her age, as this is the 20-year-old Annie’s first teaching position, her disability, as she only recently regained most of her sight, and her upbringing in the North, where the cultural values (specifically for women) differ greatly. These three pillars of Annie’s identity polarize her and Captain Keller. By the end of the play, however, Annie gains Captain Keller’s respect.

“I can’t unteach her six years of pity if you can’t stand up to one tantrum! Old Stonewall, indeed.”

This quote alludes to another battle, Stonewall. Annie subtly exposes the pride Captain Keller has in his methods of raising Helen. Love and pity alone have yielded little to no results. It takes a combination of love, pity, and Annie’s persistence and toughness to finally reach Helen.

“The room’s a wreck, but her napkin is folded.”

Annie, finally alone with Helen, teaches her how to fold her napkin. The scene, which has no dialogue, depicts the two characters physically wrestling for several minutes in a battle of wills. Eventually, Annie triumphs. The Kellers, shocked that Annie was successful, are forced to admit that Annie’s methods of teaching appear to work.

“This-soul—[…] This-blind-deaf, mute-woman—[…] Can nothing be done to disinter this human soul? The whole neighborhood would rush to save this woman if she were buried alive by the caving in of a pit, and labor with zeal until she were dug out. Now if there were one who had as much patience as zeal, he might awaken her to a consciousness of her immortal— […].”

This passage is heard as a voiceover. It details the contents of “the battered Perkins report” Annie finds in her suitcase (55). The statement is an indictment of the way society treats people with disabilities.

“[…]might awaken her to a consciousness of her immortal nature. The chance is small indeed; but with a smaller chance they would have dug desperately for her in the pit; and is the life of the soul of less import than that of the body?”

This voiceover, continued from the previous one, reminds the audience to be simultaneously patient when teaching those with disabilities, and urgent about reaching them. Together, the two quotes work to reclaim Helen’s humanity. Gibson’s writing reminds us that she is not an animal, as she is so frequently compared to in the play, but a human child with a yearning to connect with others.

“Mrs. Keller, I don’t think Helen’s worst handicap is deafness or blindness. It’s your love, and pity.”

Annie chides Helen’s family for spoiling Helen, and for using her deafness and blindness to excuse Helen’s inappropriate behavior. Annie frequently reminds the Kellers that because she doesn’t love Helen, she will be the better teacher. Pity inspires the family to do everything for Helen, eliminating any independence she might otherwise obtain.

“Everything. The food she eats, the clothes she wears, fresh—(She is amused at herself, though very serious)—air, yes, the air she breathes, whatever her body needs is a—primer, to teach her out of. It’s the only way, the one who lets her have it should be her teacher.”

As long as Helen is surrounded by those who love and pity her, Annie’s teaching will not succeed. Annie realizes that if Helen is to respect and trust her, she must take on the role of caretaker and teacher. Annie’s feelings of affection for Helen grow during their time alone together.

“No. It made me strong. But you don’t need to send Helen there. She’s strong enough.”

Annie has just recounted the horrors of her time at Tewksbury, but, as always, refuses to receive any pity from the Kellers. Now that Annie has spent time with Helen, she knows for certain that everything Helen needs to learn is already within her, it just needs to be unlocked.

“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?”

While the Captain and Kate are emotionally invested in Helen’s well-being, James (at least on the surface) is not. His acceptance of Helen’s condition is a stark contrast to Annie’s perseverance. The attitude of giving up on someone with disabilities is common. Gibson uses the character of James to voice and critique this popular sentiment in the play.

“One thing that girl’s secret is not, she doesn’t fire one shot and disappear!”

Captain Keller says this after a fight with James. James has just accused Captain Keller of forgetting his mother. James then runs off before the Captain can respond. The quote both reinforces the theme of comparing parenting to war, and the idea of surrender. James eventually learns to accept Kate, Helen, and Mildred as part of his new family, and moves on from his own battle of grieving his mother (the Captain’s first wife).

“There are of course all kinds of separation. Katie has lived with one kind for five years. And another is disappointment. In a child.”

Captain Keller expresses how he and James struggle to understand each other. Although there is nothing physical separating the two (like there is between Helen and Kate), Captain Keller’s disappointment in James, as well as James’s anger at his father, creates a wall that is equally impenetrable.

“Well, she learned two nouns this morning, key and water, brings her up to eighteen nouns and three verbs.”

In these lines spoken by Annie, we see the pairing of the words “key” and “water,” which symbolize the well of knowledge that exists within Helen.

“How does a bird learn to fly? (She spells again) We’re born to use words, like wings, it has to come.”

Here, Annie emphasizes patience with the learning process. Patience is emphasized in many of the scenes, such as when Kate and Aunt Ev convince Captain Keller to send out yet another wire, or the long minutes that pass as Annie teaches Helen table manners in Act I. Patience and perseverance are two virtues that are critical to the play.

“Cleanliness is next to nothing, she has to learn that everything has its name! That words can be her eyes, to everything in the outside world, and inside too. What is she without words? With them she can think, have ideas, be reached, there’s not a thought or fact in the world that can’t be hers.”

In this scene, Annie stresses what is at stake for Helen if she learns language. Annie can’t repair Helen’s eyes, but through language, she can give her the gift of understanding, which is something the Kellers never imagined to be possible. If Helen learns language, she can have a deeper relationship with her family and her own humanity. She will no longer be treated like an animal that needs to be tamed, but like a child finally capable of communicating with her loved ones.

“[…] why, you can see back five thousand years in a light of words, everything we feel, think, know, and share, in words, so not a soul is in darkness, or done with, even in the grave. And I know, I know, one word and I can—put the world in your hand—and whatever it is to me, I won’t take less!”

Annie’s monologue emphasizes the importance of language. Words preserve the record of lives lived on earth. In real life, Helen Keller ended up writing her own story in an autobiography entitled “The Story of My Life.”

Likely, when she references the grave, Annie is referring to her brother.

“I don’t know how. I know without it to do nothing but obey is—no gift, obedience without understanding is a—blindness, too. Is that all I’ve wished on her?”

Annie is devastated when she is not given more time alone with Helen. She relays her feelings to Captain Keller, and the two of them make a pact not to undo what progress Annie has made. They agree to work together moving forward, with the aim of helping Helen understand language, no matter how long it takes.

“And Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with an angel until the breaking of the day; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, has he wrestled with him; and the angel said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And Jacob said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Amen. (Annie has lifted her eyes suspiciously at James, who winks expressionlessly and inclines his head to Helen) Oh, you angel.”

When James is asked to say grace at Helen’s homecoming dinner, he quotes this passage from the Bible. At the end, he addresses Helen and calls her “angel” (86), which implies that Annie is being compared to Jacob, who is unmoving when wrestling the angel. James frequently comments on Annie’s strong will when teaching the equally stubborn Helen.