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James Keller
James Sullivan, Annie Sullivan’s little brother, is never seen onstage, but his voice is an important presence in the play. James and Annie grew up in extreme poverty, and eventually were taken to live in a state almshouse. Around this time, James (who could barely walk) fell seriously ill and died. This caused Annie tremendous guilt, since she had promised that she would always take care of her brother. Jimmie has only a few lines in the play, but he’s an important character: Annie’s narrative “arc” begins with her guilt over Jimmie’s death and ends with her redeeming herself by “saving” Helen Keller from her isolation.
James Sullivan / “Jimmie” Quotes in The Miracle Worker
The The Miracle Worker quotes below are all either spoken by James Sullivan / “Jimmie” or refer to James Sullivan / “Jimmie”. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
BOY’S VOICE [in terror]: Annie! Annie, don't let them take me-Annie!
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Early in the play, readers learn that Annie Sullivan, the teacher who has been sent to educate Helen Keller, is haunted by her own past. At various points, the stage lights dim, signaling that Annie is experiencing a traumatic memory. These memories are usually accompanied by strange, echoing voices—such as this voice, crying Annie’s name again and again. For the time being, it’s not entirely clear who the voice belongs to. But gradually, it becomes clear that the boy is Jimmie Sullivan, Annie’s beloved younger brother, who dies when Annie is still a child. Annie seems to hold herself personally Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliqu
JAMES: Spell, she doesn't know the thing has a name, even.
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In this passage, James Keller—the sullen, cynical son of Arthur Keller—watches Annie teaching Helen Keller how to spell. James makes an annoying but nevertheless valuable point: there doesn’t seem to be any reason to teach Helen how to spell, considering that she doesn’t know what spelling, names, or meaning are. Annie has a good answer prepared for James’s question—you have to teach a child words before the child understands meaning, not the other way around—but the question is an important one. On the surface, it may seem counterintuitive that Annie would begin with words themselves rather than the concept of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Vo
Act 2 Quotes
BOY’S VOICE: You ain't goin' to school, are you, Annie?
ANNIE [whispering]: When I grow up.
BOY’S VOICE: You ain't either, Annie. You're goin' to stay here take care of me.
ANNIE: I'm goin' to school when I grow up.
BOY’S VOICE: You said we'll be together, forever and ever and ever–
ANNIE [fierce]; I'm goin' to school when I grow up!
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In this flashback scene, the adult Annie Sullivan is tormented by her memories of arguing with her deceased brother, James Sullivan. As children, Annie and James promised to take care of each other forever. But Annie wanted to go to a school for the blind—something which required her to move away from James. James was distressed by this news, and shortly afterwards, he died, making Annie feel incredibly guilty. Although Annie later reports all of this to the Kellers, this passage doesn’t make Annie’s complicated history clear all at once. Rather, Gibson allows readers to piece together Annie’s backstory very Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur molli
ANNIE: The first year we had eighty, seventy died. The room Jimmie and I played in was the deadhouse, where they kept the bodies till they could dig—
KATE [closes her eyes]: Oh, my dear—
ANNIE: —the graves.
(She is immune to KATE's compassion.)
No, it made me strong. But I don't think you need send Helen there. She's strong enough.
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Annie Sullivan continues to tell Kate and Arthur Keller about her own early life. She and her brother James Keller grew up in abject poverty and later were moved into a state almshouse (something like a homeless shelter). Life in the almshouse was miserable, with people dying left and right. The remarkable thing about this passage, however, isn’t the horrors that Annie describes to Kate and Arthur—rather, it’s how passively and emotionlessly Annie describes those horrors. Even when Kate makes a sympathetic noise, Annie ignores her response and goes on describing the almshouse. She has lived in pain for so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde e
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James Sullivan / “Jimmie” Character Timeline in The Miracle Worker
The timeline below shows where the character James Sullivan / “Jimmie” appears in The Miracle Worker. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...I am I owe to you.” She remembers coming to Anagnos’s school years earlier. After “Jimmie died,” Annie recalls, she enrolled in the school, where she got her “eyes back” and...
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...voices can be heard. They belong to the young Annie and her brother, James (or Jimmie) Sullivan. The voice of young Annie tells her younger brother, “I’m takin’ care of you.”...
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...Kate are waiting. James greets her and introduces himself. Annie replies, “I had a brother Jimmie.” James explains he’s Helen’s half-brother and adds, “You look like half a governess.” Annie greets...
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Act 2
...“Annie, what’s that noise?” Annie replies, that somebody is pushing a cot to “the deadhouse.” Jimmie asks, “Does it hurt, to be dead?” Next, Jimmie insists that Annie must stay around...
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...about her own childhood. She grew up in “the state almshouse,” along with her brother Jimmie. The place was full of old, blind women, and younger, diseased people. Annie and Jimmie...
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