Helen Keller

by Siham from San Diego

(www.youtube.com (Smithsonian Channel))

When the average person thinks of the name "Helen Keller," they would imagine a blind and deaf young lady who miraculously wrote books. However, there are traits of this historical figure that complete her picture far better than this statement can. Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and came down with a sickness that erased her eyesight and vision while she was still an infant. As she grew, she used her remaining senses to explore the world around her, eventually becoming able to perform tasks ordinary people could do, like talking, dancing, and writing. Aside from publishing books like "The World I Live In" (NY Times), Keller became a major spokesperson for the blind and deaf population, and during her adult life, she traveled around the world to speak out against war and discrimination. Most may know Helen Keller as only a deaf and blind lady who proves that hard work will overcome any obstacle, physical or mental. On the other hand, what's overlooked is her social activism and her want for peace and equality among all people. Keller promotes the use of justice and fairness, and fights to prevent herself from being hollowly described as a mere icon of "perseverance". Her ability to view and point out the faults of modern society and patriarchy in spite of her disabilities shows heightened awareness. Overall, the one supporting trait she couldn't have made it without was her optimism, keeping her dreams and hope alive and preventing them from faltering, even after death. Assisted by justice, awareness, and optimism, Helen Keller is a hero for raising the voices of the discouraged and disabled to surpass the noise of the healthy and ignorant.

Radcliffe College (Wikipedia (Library of Congress))

Keller's positive impact on the world today involves her strong yet omitted sense of justice. This arose during her younger years, when she "graduated from Radcliffe in 1904 with honors... Helen was happy because she had proven that a deaf and blind person could succeed in college. Years later, when President Woodrow Wilson asked Helen why she went to Radcliffe, she told him, 'Because they didn't want me at Radcliffe'" (Shichtman). Keller connects this skepticism to how the authorities of society "knock out" handicapped people from success, and makes them feel less than worthy. To reclaim her standing of a real person, and to set an example for others who need to do the same, she defies this statement, and proves that anyone can have the same academic opportunities regardless of what others tell them. Realizing this social gap between two kinds of people, she wanted to bridge it. Throughout her adolescence, she thought a further trip down this path to justice would be worthwhile: "During her lifetime Helen gave hundreds of speeches. She spoke out for blind and deaf people...for women, workers, and the poor, [and against] war...Helen told the people, 'I look upon the world as my Fatherland, and every war has for me the horror of a family feud'" (Shichtman). As evident in her lecture-giving business, Keller refused to stay silent. She felt it right to inform others about how people are doing in lower places like poverty and impairment, and how authorities treated these people. To defy her soundless, colorless fate, she makes an effort to raise unheard voices and push them against the unfairness of society to promise a better, more unified future for her people.

World War II; Keller lived around this time. (www.pindex.com (Visual Science))

Ever since she learned to "feel" and "smell" her way around the household, Keller's way of living without her senses proves that sometimes the best tools of life are barely important to finding out the real qualities of life. During her adult life as a Socialist, Keller started to draw conclusions about why society and the economy appears flawed: "She noticed that the leading causes of disability in the United States were largely attributable to industrial and workplace accidents and diseases, frequently caused by an employer's greed and reluctance to prioritize workers' safety...other social factors contributed, too, such as the prevalence of poverty..." (Rosenthal). At the time, many spokespeople sounded skeptical of Keller's observations because she was blind and deaf and could not experience the world so effectively, deeming her claims about it irrelevant. By this observation, Keller shows that she's indeed able to see and point out the economy's lethal imperfections. She even does this with more insight than most people can have, regardless of both her impairments and the comments attacking them. Perhaps her impairments even aided her statements, as people nowadays are too distracted by visual and audible media, and are too invested the opinions of others, to learn to analyze economic situations in-depth. After such Socialist business, Keller is asked for an interview from the New York Tribune, and at one point is asked to comment on how college made an impact in her life: "'But they amounted to nothing,' she countered. 'They did not teach me about things as they are today, or about the vital problems of the people...the[y] celebrated the achievements of war, rather than those of the heroes of peace. For instance, there were a dozen chapters on war where there were a few paragraphs about the inventors, and it is this overemphasis on the cruelties of life that breeds the wrong ideal'" (Bindley). Normal college students would glaze over these details or even believe them, unaware of what the text presented to them really says about the American education system. Through this discovery, Keller made good use of this knowledge and learned to see the world as it really is. Because the average person is usually invested in other activities and media, it's not common to hear of someone intuitive enough to make accurate observations about the world and life, especially without needing sight or hearing. Keller is special because she is one of those people.

Keller walking with a wounded soldier. (http://www.afb.org/ ())

Justice and awareness alone only fulfills Keller's active side; her passive side is expressed in her supportive, inspiring optimism she managed to keep throughout her entire life. She expressed this in her early life in a remark: "'I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times, but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers. The wind passes, and the flowers are content'" (NY Times). She indirectly associates herself as a flower, blooming with potential, and flexible enough to withstand the force of wind. Keller believes in herself and her endurance, and tries not to spend time wallowing in her eventual losses in life. This hope becomes integral to her work and successes later in life, though others can benefit from hope, too. On the majority of her lectures, "she taught the blind to be courageous and to make their lives rich, productive, and beautiful for others and for themselves" ("Helen Adams Keller"). People today are sometimes so invested in their own work and problems, they need reminders that life is meant to be fulfilled with the greatest of actions and desires. Keller had it worse than most people in terms of impairment, yet by focusing on her dreams and strengths, she lives life to its full potential. She proves that the only strongest limitation is how well and happy one chooses to be.
America couldn't have been shaped the way it stands today without the guiding hand of Helen Keller. Forces brought on by her speeches and supportive groups carved a path for those in poverty and disability. They also highlighted the cracks of society's seemingly smooth surface to bring justice to its lethal flaws. Regardless of how she can't see or hear, Keller creates logical observations about everyday life, and uses them to show how limitations can't get in the way of hope and determination. As for how she managed to influence others, one way she did this was by talking to the impaired World War II soldiers: "Helen explained to blind soldiers that blindness was not the end of the world. They could still walk and read...they could hear with their eyes. Her visits gave courage and hope to everyone who met her" (Schichtman). One type of person I admire is someone who would cross oceans to remind even complete strangers that life will be fortunate again. These inspired people could pass on this encouragement to countless more and more. I think Keller made an important influence on everyone this way, even if it was unnoticeable. Getting in-depth about her helped change my perception of impaired and disabled people, and how much potential and wit they have in store for the rest of the world.

Works Consulted

Bindley, Barbara. "Helen Keller - Why I Became an IWW." Industrial Workers of the World.

New York Tribune, 15 Jan. 1916. Web. 16 May 2016.

<http://www.iww.org/history/library/HKeller/why_I_became_an_IWW>.

"Helen Adams Keller." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in

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Keller, Helen Adams. The Story of My Life. New York: New American Library, 1988. Print.

Stuckey, Kenneth A. "Keller, Helen." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 17

May 2016. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar296720>.

Rosenthal, Keith. "The Politics of Helen Keller." Issue #100. International Socialist Review, July

2011. Web. 14 May 2016. <http://isreview.org/issue/96/politics-helen-keller>.

Shichtman, Sandra H. "Helen Keller: Out Of A Dark & Silent World." Helen Keller: Out Of

Dark & Silent World (2002): 6-10. History Reference Center. Web. 17 May 2016.

Whitman, Alden. "Triumph out of Tragedy." On This Day. The New York Times, 2010. Web. 29

Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0627.html>.

Works Cited