Helen Keller: Overview
The Minds Eye As humans we become thankful for what we have after having to go without. We do not become thankful for the light until we have had to walk through the dark tunnel. In “Three Days to See” by Helen Keller the author in a descriptive manner goes through three days vividly explaining the sights she wanted to see and explore had she gained her vision for the allotted time. “Helen Keller was born in sweet home Alabama in 1880. In the small town of Tuscumbia at nineteen months old Helen fell very sick” (Keller 210) .
Though the sickness that ailed her had passed rather quickly, it left her permanently blind. I feel as if Helen Keller overcame the most adversity because she was put at a disadvantage from the beginning. Helen had to overcome her disabilities as well as being the woman that she was in a male dominant society. Helen Keller succeeding in conquering the obstacles set before her by graduating college, learning to read and write via braille, and having such an impact on society in more ways than not. Since her infant years helen keller was basically blind.
When i think about jamming my finger and the difficulties of not using it, it is is then when i come to realize the value of my finger. On a larger scale i cannot begin to fathom being blind and it not going away. In “Three Days to see” Helen goes on to talk about what seems to be the smaller simple things to the able man and how he takes for granted the abilities he posses. “Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight”(Keller 212). Helen thinks or wishes each man would do well to be stricken blind and deaf for a few days in his/her early adulthood. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound”(Keller 212). Ultimately this is true. Ms. Keller with her friends would test them to see what they had saw walking through the woods. Her friends would often say “nothing in particular”. In this instance Helen realizes the lack of concentration and admiration people had for the faculties they possessed. The influential Helen Keller would become accustomed to the responses and lack of appreciation for sight. Coping with her disability Helen becomes one of the most prudent women in society.
Her imprint is still visible today from literature, womans rights, and she serves as a great role model as well as an inspiration for individuals that have similar physical limitations. Subsequently, with the persistence and dedication of Helen, she gained the interest and was taken under Anne Sullivans wing who was also vision impaired. “Sullivan moved into Kellers home in 1887 to work with her” (Keller 210). I believe it could have been easier for Helen just to be content with being disabled but her mother and her sought out help to better her.
Sullivan who graduated from the Perkins institute for the blind, aided Helen in her journey and gave her the foundation and the needed knowledge to graduate from Radcliffe College. Instead of letting her disabilities cripple her mentally and emotionally Helen went on to achieve many great things. “The first blind and deaf person to do so”(Keller 210). “she became a renowned speaker and author, advocating for disability rights, suffrage, and pacifism”( Keller 210). i think she had a vision that only she could see with her minds eye. er disability with her sight actually strengthened her imagination and ability to think on a higher level. Helen in many aspects was the precedent or the first to do a slew of what she accomplished in her time. In addition to her education Ms. Keller had a vast imagination in a world where those with her disabilities were supposed to fail. Assistance was never provided to Helen. Without her imagination i truly believe her ambitions would have been limited. Realistically, she succeeded in a world where man was dominate, and it was thought women could not achieve or do the same things as men. She published articles, as well as twelve books, including her autobiography, The Story of My Life (1903), and The World I Live In (1908)” (Keller 210). She had to overcome the adversity of men and her abilities in a time frame when a womans rights and her abilities were not looked at equally. In efforts to laud Helen Keller, i believe overcoming being blind and deaf, and being a woman in a “mans world” is a much greater feat than any other. She overcame adversity with her imagination and education. I deeply think that in three days to see, she would conquer the world.
