What is the role of nature in Helen's life?
Answers
Nature, in Helen's life, was one of the most important things. It was one of the things that made her want to live and experience. Her life was always enriched by nature. When she was little, her family home had a large and varied garden, having various trees, plants and such. Her childhood basically was wholly spent in the arms of nature. She, along with Martha Washington, played outdoors even before she knew how to communicate with others, aside from her physical signs.
After her introduction to Miss Anne Sullivan, her intimacy with nature increased even more. Sullivan's unorthodox teaching methods included teaching outside in nature, and this meant elongated periods of time spent outdoors, be it the garden or some hillside. Sullivan made her touch and feel the various trees and their leaves and taught her about each plant she touched.
The instance when Helen was up on a tree alone and a storm started to blow made her realize that Nature is not only peaceful but can also sometimes be devastating. The will to learn and experience drove Helen to the ocean coasts, where she felt the waves and was more or less mesmerized by the experience.
Helen's life was made beautiful by the nature she felt and absorbed.