brief summary of novel Helen Keller chapter 21
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Summary of Chapter 21
In this chapter Helen talks about her love for books. Helen admits that all her joys and pleasures were related to books. She tells about the names of books that were her companion since her childhood, Books such as, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Bible Stories, The Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe, etc. Helen loved Greek History and Literature, Bible, Shakespeare, German and French Literature. She also mentions the names of writers, poets, and playwrights such as Carlyle, Wordsworth, Whittier, Mark Twain, etc. who left lasting impressions on her mind. For Helen, Literature was a Utopia. She found books to be the best friends she ever had.
In this chapter, Helen discusses her love for reading. She remembers reading a book at the age of seven years. She used her fingertips to read as many books as she could find. She started by reading the basic ‘readers’ which she read so many times that the embossed words got worn out. Sometimes Miss Sullivan ‘read’ the stories by spelling onto her hand, but she preferred reading by herself. She started reading in earnest during her visit to Boston at the Perkins Institution. She read the books from the library, bringing down all the books which caught her fancy. In the beginning, she read irrespective of whether she understood each word or not. As a result, she acquired a rich vocabulary, memorizing words and sentences, many of which she did not really understand. When she was an eight-year-old, she was found reading The Scarlet Letter by her teacher. The teacher had asked her if she liked little Pearl and then she told her that she had a beautiful story about a little boy which she was sure to like better than The Scarlet Letter. The name of the story was Little Lord Fauntleroy and was the first book she understood and enjoyed. It was from this book that Helen dates the beginning of her true interest in books. Whenever Miss Sullivan stopped her ‘reading’ for a break, she would get upset because she was so absorbed in the story that even a short break made her feel deprived. Later, Mr Anagnos got the story embossed and she read it until she learnt it by heart. She mentions a lot of books that helped her connect with the outside world. She did not enjoy the books which had morals, or where animals were given human traits. She did, however, enjoy reading the Greek classics. Her introduction to the Bible was not very memorable, but over time, she found the stories very absorbing and uplifting. She enjoyed Shakespeare’s plays and also liked books on history. She was fascinated by classic writers such as Homer and Virgil. She also talks of her appreciation for French and German literature. Literature thus became her Utopia.