Question

Why does the helen keller compare herself to use ship?

Answer 1

“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. ‘Light! give me light!’ was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.”

In essence, this quote suggests that without education, Helen was rudderless and her life had no clear direction. Her blindness was a hindrance, and she implies that even if she did have a path to follow, she wouldn’t have any way to get there safely.

Helen uses the fog, or "a tangible white darkness," to represent her blindness and the way this kept her away from everything. She implies that her lack of education continued to keep her in the dark, locked away from the world