Question

How was Helen persuaded to write the story of her life at the age of 12 and after her bad experience ‛‛The Frost King ’’ ?

Answer 1

Following ‘The Frost king’ incident, Helen was scrupulously careful about what she wrote, fearful that is may be a copy of what someone else had written. Miss Sullivan was very much aware of this fear of Helen. Often when an idea occurred to her, Helen would spell to her teacher, “I am not sure it is mine”. Sometimes while writing a paragraph, she said to herself, “Suppose it should be found that all this was written by someone long ago!” So Miss Sullivan consoled and helped Helen in many ways, and finally with the hope of restoring her self-confidence, she persuaded Helen to write for the Youth’s Companion magazine a brief account of her life. Helen then was just twelve years old. When she looked back on her struggle to write that little story, it seemed to Helen that she must have had a premonition of the good that would come of it, otherwise she would surely have failed. Helen wrote timidly, fearfully, but resolutely, urged on by Miss Sullivan, who knew that if Helen persevered, she would regain her mental faculties.