Question

what does the narrator remember about the first nineteen months of helen kellers childhood

Answer 1

At 19 months of age, Keller loses her sight and hearing. A girl spends five years in darkness and silence, yet she runs with strength and is healthy and vigorous. Frenetically, she reaches into everything, is fascinated by people, and is in constant gestural communication with her mother and family members. She remembers the layout of the house, so she is able to freely run through it. She loves being with her dogs and her pony, but she cannot grasp sophisticated meaning from her limited world until her teacher, 21 year old Anne Sullivan, arrives in 1887 to greet the 7-year-old Keller.

Keller is not used to following the directives of anyone else, and there are some epic battles between these two strong-willed individuals. Sullivan isolates Keller from her indulgent family to live with her in the cottage house to teach the young girl obedience, while she continues finger spelling words into Keller's hands to elucidate the world to her. Arguments between Sullivan and Keller last hours; the 7-year-old knocks out at least one of her teacher's teeth. However, Keller eventually realizes that she will not win, and she is pleasantly distracted by the light of knowledge.

When Sullivan explains the meaning of "water" at the well and Keller understands, she becomes ecstatic. She realizes that everything has a name, and she begs her teacher to label every object she can think of to satisfy her inquisitive mind and give her the greater and more specific tool of language to communicate with other people.