Saturday, August 24, 2013

How do Helen's parents, half-brother, and aunt treat her? Support your answer with details from the play.

Kate Keller, Helen’s mother, is the only member of her family who has confidence in Helen's intellectual abilities. The others assume that, because of her disabilities, her intelligence is below normal. They tend to indulge her, allowing her to behave like a willful toddler. At meals, they let her grab food off anyone’s plate rather than having her sit at her own place. Kate is affectionate with her and often addresses her, while her father, Captain Keller, rarely interacts directly with her. Both parents are concerned that she is nearing adolescence.
James, Helen's half-brother, generally ignores her when possible and speaks about her in the third person as if she were not present. For example, while she is in the room, he says to his father that Helen should be in an asylum. When Ev, Helen's aunt, comes to visit, she has numerous suggestions of specialists who might help her but is not very involved in her daily activities.

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