Examples Of Blindness In The Miracle Worker

588 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Person with disabilities essays

Blindness is a trait that everyone has. Since we were children, we have been blind to see and notice emotions and things around us. In The Miracle Worker, two characters were unable to discern the things around them. Being so wrapped up in their pity towards young Helen, they are subject to many blindnesses. Kate Keller and Captain Keller are so pitiful toward Helen that they fail to pay attention to their surroundings and don’t realize how their actions affect other people causing more problems than there should be.
Captain Keller is one person that been subject to blindness throughout the The Miracle Worker. For example, Keller is blind to Kate’s belief that “As long as there’s the least chance for her to see, or hear…”(638) we must take …show more content…

Keller’s blindness to his own actions and to the notions of the people that surround him results in harm to his family. Kate Keller is another person who has proven to be blind on multiple occasions. For example, after “ Helen gets rid of Annie’s hand by jabbing it with a needle”, “Kate intervenes with a proffered sweet”(661). As she does this, Annie questions her act of punishment by saying, “Why does she get a reward for stabbing me?”(662) Helen now thinks that whatever she just did must have been good since Kate had just given her something sweet and tasty to eat. Kate’s blindness of how her own punishments give a negative impact on how Helen treats other people. In addition, Kate’s endless love and pity for Helen makes Annie so angry, that the only thing she pities is “that the sun won’t rise and set for her all her life, and the only thing you're telling her is it will”(664). Kate’s love for Helen gets in the way of Annie’s teachings. Annie has asked numerous times for Kate to keep her distance from Helen but, she is too blind to accept the fact that Helen will learn better without her being a part of it. Kate’s love and disciplinary actions towards Helen interfere with Annie and her teaching making them a few of her blindnesses within the keller

Show More
Related

  • The Character Of Bub In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator, Bub, is as metaphorically blind as his guest, Robert, is literally blind. Bub has many unwarranted misconceptions about life, blind people in particular. He also has many insecurities that prevent him from getting too close to people. Through his interaction with Robert, Bub is able to open his mind and let go of his self-doubt for a moment and see the world in a different light.

    Read More

  • Characterism In 'Cathedral, By William Shenstone's Cathedral'

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    Carver provides an easy, visual outlook of the protagonist throughout the short story, which helps keep a better understanding during the simple yet intense experience. As the story continues, the protagonist enhances his mood as he aids Robert to visualizing a cathedral. This experience creates an impact on others because it is a great reason to why one should never judge someone of something beyond their controls. Also, helping someone, as Robert does for Bub can be a life changing experience. Despite the blind man being physically blind, the husband is the one with the disability to see from someone else’s perspective. This is proven through his epiphany during his portrayal of being blind. Although Bub is not physically blind, he interprets a shortage of observations. This shows that in many ways he is blinder than Robert. Robert is more open minded and willing to experience things, in contrast to Bub, who is narrow minded and has problems opening up his mind throughout the short story. Because the protagonist does not fully try to understand his wife, it makes him look like the blind person ironically though he can visually recognize her, proving that he does not truly know her inside and out. Knowing her personally is more of reality and the husband is blind to reality. Carver definitely analyzes the protagonist’s emotions through diction and visual aid throughout the story, providing great understanding of the meaning as a

    Read More

  • Blindly He Goes Up Analysis

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Uncle Jim, and Erik Weihenmayer both are not born blind, but are both able to overcome their blindness to live life to the fullest extent. Both protagonists in the story share similar qualities, and traits to one, and another like being resilient, perseverance, determination, and a little bit of stubbornness to keep going, and never allow their blindness to dictate how they are able to live, but instead they are the ones who dictate how they want to live. Both stories showcase brilliant characters that were able to overcome their shortcomings which led to the betterment of their prospective

    Read More

  • Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral Blindness creates a world of obscurity only to be overcome with guidance from someone willing to become intimate with the blind. Equally true, the perceptions of blindness can only be overcome when the blind allow intimacy with the sighted. Raymond Carver, with his short story Cathedral, illustrates this point through the eyes of a man who will be spending an evening with a blind man, Robert, for the first time. Not only does this man not know Robert, but his being blind, "bothered" (Carver 98) him.

    Read More

  • Sight & Blindness in the Invisible Man

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    prove to be blind when it comes to the world they are in. By looking

    Read More

  • Analysis of Cathedral

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although, it is obvious throughout the story, that the Narrators views of blind people has changed, -

    Read More

  • Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    The husband in Raymond Carvers “Cathedral” wasn’t enthusiastic about his wife’s old friend, whom was a blind man coming over to spend the night with them. His wife had kept in touch with the blind man since she worked for him in Seattle years ago. He didn’t know the blind man; he only heard tapes and stories about him. The man being blind bothered him, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to. (Carver 137)” The husband doesn’t suspect his ideas of blind people to be anything else. The husband is already judging what the blind man will be like without even getting to actually know him. It seems he has judged too soon as his ideas of the blind man change and he gets a better understanding of not only the blind man, but his self as well.

    Read More

  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    1548 Words  | 4 Pages

    Blindness is defined as the lack of visual perception. Blindness can also be defined as not being able to see things for what they really are. One may be able to see but may not be able to see the true meaning of something. Black communities often refuse to see the way that white people treat them. In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man many events contribute to the overall theme of sight vs. blindness.

    Read More

  • Sight in Cathedral

    1493 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vision is something many people take for granted every day. Society only deals with the matter of being blind if they are the less fortunate ones. According to the Braille Institute, "every seven minutes a person in the United States loses their sight, often as part of the aging process" (1). Only two percent of legally blind people use a guide dog and thirty-five percent use a white cane. Blindness can be caused from various different types of things including (in order) age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related cataracts. (Braille 1). However being blind does not mean a person is in total darkness. Some people can see lights and the shapes of objects, but the most import thing is for family and friends to provide hope and encouragement. The last thing a person who has lost their sight wants is to lose their family and support, which will led to loneliness. Likewise, in the short story "Cathedral," by Raymond Carver's, blindness is the key element in the story and shows in detail how the characters manage it. The theme Carver conveys in the short story is being able to see without sight and is revealed through the characters, tone and plot of the story.

    Read More

  • Jose Saramago's Blindness

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    When defining the word blindness, it can be interpreted in various ways. Either it can be explained as sightless, or it can be carefully deciphered as having a more complex in-depth analysis. In the novel Blindness, Jose Saramago depicts and demonstrates how in an instant your right to see can be taken in an instant. However, in this novel, blindness is metaphorically related to ‘seeing’ the truth beyond our own bias opinions.

    Read More

  • Helen Keller Rhetorical Analysis

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, Helen Keller’s speech displays an argument that blind people are just as great as normal people and that people should care about blind people too. This speech also provides our world today with an important message. Everyone should take part in helping out other people and therefore help make the world a better and delightful place for

    Read More

  • Metamorphosis of the Narrator in Cathedral by Raymond Carver

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    The narrator's insensitivity reveals itself early in the story when his wife's blind friend, Robert, comes for a visit after the death of his wife. Almost immediately in the beginning of the story the narrator admits "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." [Carver 2368] He even goes so far as to suggest to his wife that he take the man bowling. He hears the story of Robert's dead wife and can not even imagine "…what a pitiful life this woman must have led." [Carver 2370] The narrator is superficial, only recognizing the external part of people and not recognizing the value of a person on the inside.

    Read More

  • Blindness in Cathedral by Raymond Carver

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, it tells of how a blind man is open to new experiences and how he views the world compared to the husband (narrator) who is blinded by the material things of life. The husband is given the gift of sight but the true gift comes from seeing the cathedral. At the beginning of the story, the husband’s outlook on others is filled with stereotypes, discrimination, insecurities and prejudice. After interacting with Robert, his wife's friend, his outlook begins to change significantly.

    Read More

  • Blindness in Cathedral by Raymond Carver

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    In literature, blindness serves a general significant meaning of the absence of knowledge and insight. In life, physical blindness usually represents an inability or handicap, and those people afflicted with it are pitied. The act of being blind can set limitations on the human mind, thus causing their perception of reality to dramatically change in ways that can cause fear, personal insecurities, and eternal isolation. However, “Cathedral” utilizes blindness as an opportunity to expand outside those limits and exceed boundaries that can produce a compelling, internal change within an individual’s life. Those who have the ability of sight are able to examine and interpret their surroundings differently than those who are physically unable to see. Carver suggests an idea that sight and blindness offer two different perceptions of reality that can challenge and ultimately teach an individual to appreciate the powerful significance of truly seeing without seeing. Therefore, Raymond Carver passionately emphasizes a message that introduces blindness as not a setback, but a valuable gift that can offer a lesson of appreciation and acceptance toward viewing the world in a more open-minded perspective.

    Read More

  • Helen Keller Analysis

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Helen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, she draws the reader in by admitting her fears strongly saying, “ I have, as it were, a superstitions hesitation in lifting the veil that clings about my childhood like a golden mi...

    Read More

More about Examples Of Blindness In The Miracle Worker

Open Document