Question

character sketch of Graham bell

Answer 1

Helen Keller's parents sought help from Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, who was famous for inventing the telephone. He had family members who were deaf, so he had sympathy for Helen's plight. In her autobiography, Helen described him as being full of "tenderness and sympathy" toward her. When her parents took Helen to see him, she was a little girl. She recalled sitting on his knee as he let her play with his watch. Dr. Bell even "understood [her] signs, and [she] knew it and loved him at once." Dr. Bell was patient and understanding with Helen in a time when not everyone was.

Helen's parents did not know what to do about their daughter. They wanted her to be educated and helped. Dr. Bell suggested that they contact Mr. Anagnos of the Perkins Institution, which was a Boston school for the blind. It was through Mr. Anagnos that Helen's teacher, Annie Sullivan, came to help Helen learn to communicate. Helen noted that at the time of their visit to Dr. Bell, she could not have "dream[ed] that that interview would be the door through which [she] should pass from darkness into light, from isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge, love."

When Helen was older, Dr. Bell showed her around the World's Fair. She also visited his home on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. He was a dear friend to Helen. He was a man who "[made] every subject he touche[d] interesting." Though he was an important and famous person, he made time for Helen and was sympathetic to her. This showed that he was patient and understanding, as well as caring. He was a loyal friend.