Persistence In William Gibson's The Miracle Worker

Imagine that when people fail, they give up. Imagine a professional athlete quit as a child because of a minor injury that they could have overcome. Imagine if Annie Sullivan quit teaching Helen after getting her tooth knocked out of her mouth. Persistence is presented many times throughout The Miracle Worker written by William Gibson. Annie, a young governess and teacher, faced numerous hardships while attempting to teach Helen Keller, a blind and deaf child; however, she remains persistent throughout all three acts. Clearly, the notion that persistence is essential for achieving goals is implied throughout William Gibson’s drama. To begin, persistence is demonstrated several times throughout Act I. Annie takes the train down to Alabama,

Annie feels that Helen needs time away from her family, since they pity her. As a result, Annie takes Helen out of the house for a week and teaches her on her own. In this scene, Helen returns to the house and Kate is impressed by how much Annie taught Helen. Kate exclaims, “You’ve taught her so much, these two weeks. I would never have—” Annie declares in disagreement, “Not enough…Obedience isn’t enough” (535). While Helen has been taught a significant amount since Annie arrived, Annie expects Helen to be able to communicate herself, rather than just repeating each motion that Annie does in her hand. After Helen and Annie return inside, the Keller family makes a nice dinner, at which Helen is misbehaving. Annie does not tolerate her behavior and commands, “Let me take her from the table.” Aunt Ev—Helen’s aunt—argues, “Oh, let her stay, my goodness, she’s only a child, she doesn’t have to wear a napkin if she doesn’t want to on her first evening” (541). After Annie tries to discipline Helen ever since she stepped in the Keller house, Aunt Ev continues to pity her by making excuses for her bad behavior. Annie does not take this comment well and takes Helen from the table anyway, to go fill up the water pitcher that she spilt. They go out to the water pump—Helen’s safe spot—and Annie begins pumping water into Helen’s hand. She signs the letters, spelling out “water” in Helen’s palm. Helen stands there in shock. After trying to communicate for weeks, she had found out that all things have a name. Helen says “Wah. Wah.” (542). Annie celebrates in shock. Helen had finally put a name to water and almost said the word fully. Helen’s persistence is demonstrated, as the whole time she had been determined to be able to communicate. In summary, Act III demonstrates that persistence is needed in order to reach