A review of the book "The Story of my Life" an autobiography written by Helen Keller

Introduction
Helen Keller's victory over her blindness and deafness has become one of the most inspiring and motivational stories of all times. The autobiography of the young Helen Keller, written by herself when she was a student at college Radcliffe at the age of 22 years old. Helen Keller—an inspiring and bold woman proved to the world that a blind and deaf person like her with just a little help can do miracles and can contribute much more to society than what they ever take from it. Through her powerful and untiring efforts, she met with great success in her life that no one could always ever expect.

A glimpse into the autobiography of "The Story of My Life"

Helen Keller, the little deaf and a visually impaired girl has conquered over adversity to become a world-renowned person. Helen was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to Captain Arthur Henry Keller, a confederate armed force veteran and a daily paper managing editor and Kate Adams Keller. At the time of her birth, she was a typical normal child. Unluckily at 19 months, Helen inflicted with a disease – red fever or meningitis that left her hard of hearing and visually impaired. Even though she was an intelligent child but because of this disease, it made it impossible to communicate with anyone. Helen learned some basic family assignments and can communicate some of her wants through a progression of signs. But Helen didn't learn dialect the way the other youngsters do. Her family became very much depressed for the fact that how hard it could be to make a kid taught of hearing and a visually impaired. At six years old, her mother figured out an instructor, Anne Sullivan to instruct Helen. She practiced how to read and learn after her schooling at the Wright Humason School for the Deaf and the Cambridge School for Young women with help of her associate Anne Sullivan. After that Helen entered Radcliff College in 1900 and completed her graduation in 1904. Helen Keller was established as the first blind Graduate person in the world.

Helen Keller with her Teacher
Helen Keller with her Teacher Anne Sullivan (Courtesy:-en.wikipedia.org)

The Story of My Life was composed while Helen Keller was in her middle twenties and when she was a student at Radcliffe College. It is a heart touching story of a young lady with an unusual inability of being deaf and visually impaired. Her life is filled with a lot of twists, turns, up's, and downs. The book starts with a somewhat mysterious depiction of youthful Helen's earliest recollections of her life before she winds up plainly hard of hearing and visually impaired at nineteen months old. However, the vast part of this book revolves around her instructor Anne Sullivan of the Perkins Institute for the Blind. Keller had acquainted few strategies for inter-communication such as touch-lip movements, Braille, speech, typing, writing, and finger-spelling. Alexander Graham Bell was one of Helen's favorite friends taught her how to think ordinary objects in different ways and also help to arrange Anne Sullivan for her teaching. With the support of Sullivan and Sullivan's would be a spouse, John Macy, Keller wrote her first book "The Story of My Life".

'The Story of My Life' gives a clear impression of Helen Keller's life to the readers. It is neither a marvel nor a joke. It is a tremendous achievement for an individual who cannot communicate to anyone. The credit for Helen's achievements and success goes to the splendid work of her instructor, Anne Sullivan. In 1908 Helen published "The World I Live In", a record of how she combat the world through touch, taste, and fragrance. In magazine articles, she encouraged an extended open door for the visually impaired and she put forth her improved techniques for decreasing visual impairment in youth. In 1909, Helen joined the Socialist Party of Massachusetts for promoting numerous reformative thoughts, including birth control, to strengthen worker's organizations and the privilege of ladies to vote. With these social activities slowly her image and prominence increased in the public. So, got charge as a lecturer fundraiser for the American Foundation for the Blind in 1924.

Helen got deserted when her associate Anne Sullivan died in 1936. After the Second World War, she visited more than thirty nations to promote a campaign for the visually impaired. In 1955, she published the history of Anne Sullivan "Teacher", and in 1957 "The Open Door", a collection of essays. In 1964 she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's most noteworthy nonmilitary personnel respect, by President Lyndon Johnson. On first June 1968, she passed away at her home in Arcane Ridge, Connecticut.

In the other part of the book, we can read the letters composed by Helen to her beloved ones between 1887-1901. Through these letters, she opened her mind, saw, felt and touched the universe of miracles. She practiced certain exercises which helped her to compose these letters. The book "Story of My Life" is a story of fearlessness, courage, hope and a work of her inner thinking. Her letters bring out a message that all people are created by God and so all people had equal rights to have a good life on this earth. It is an amazing book which deserves a rightful place in any type of libraries.

Some beautiful quotes from this book of Helen Keller's Autobiography:-
"Do not think of today's failures, but of the success, that may come tomorrow."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"One painful duty fulfilled makes the next plainer and easier."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"Knowledge is love and light and vision."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"It is so pleasant to learn about new things. Every day I find how little I know, but I do not feel discouraged since God has given me an eternity in which to learn more."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"Great poetry, whether written in Greek or in English, needs no other interpreter than a responsive heart."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"when one door of happiness closes another opens but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one the one which has opened for us."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

In a word, literature is my utopia."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

"They took away what should have been my eyes (but I remembered Milton's Paradise). They took away what should have been my ears, (Beethoven came and wiped away my tears) They took away what should have been my tongue, (but I had talked with God when I was young) He would not let them take away my soul, possessing that I still possess the whole."
- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

My observations and opinion regarding this autobiography

The major theme in Helen Keller's 'The Story of My Life' is that persistence, determination, commitment, Perseverance and resilience in the face of distress will pave the way to success beyond anyone's expectations. Another theme of the book is how trust in some one's abilities will play a vital role in the success of an individual. However, Helen Keller despite her disabilities as well as challenges is able to conquer her physical limitations and learn to speak, read, and write. At that time many people thought Helen could never have the capacity to talk because of the degree of her inabilities. She took every experience of her daily life as a new experience and learned something from it which she thought equal to learning life itself. Helen Keller was able to prove herself academically in the days where no modern day equipment to support her. Keller might have been in the dark forever and spent a confusing life in this agitated world if she was not able to get support from an accomplished instructor like Annie Sullivan. Because of Sullivan's undaunting support and compassionate love provided her the tools to understand the world and to make her mark in it. As Keller writes,"It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful." Keller was able to taste the success of her life through the power of perseverance and through the thoughtful, compassionate and enlightened education of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Another theme of this book is, how education transforms an individual irrespective of wide differences among the individuals. It proves the value and power of education in transforming a person into the right direction.

There were so many amazing and beautiful incidents described in this book. One of the heart touching incident described in this book is When Helen asked her teacher "What is Love?" She simply replied:- "You cannot touch the clouds, you know, but you feel the rain and know how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch Love either, but you feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Without love, you would not be happy or want to play." In this incident, her teacher beautifully described the love in an understanding way to Helen.

In Toto, it is a fantastic and wonderful book. I loved this book in particular. The account of Helen Keller or I would state the adventure of her life is truly amazing, motivating and haunting. Her life brought about courage, encouragement and hope to millions of people around the world. And I think, everybody should read this book. It's a stunning story of an individual in overcoming disgusting trials and making the best of what has God given to us.