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Act 1 Quotes
KELLER: Katie. How many times can you let them break your heart?
KATE: Any number of times.
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Arthur and Kate Keller’s child, Helen Keller, is born a healthy baby, but loses her ability to see and hear after a serious fever. As a result, Arthur and Kate (especially Kate) feel a constant sense of pain and guilt while raising Helen. Kate believes that she has a duty to teach Helen how to communicate—no simple task, considering her condition. Kate convinces Arthur to contact doctors and teachers across the country (Arthur owns a newspaper, making this easier) and ask them to teach Helen. While dozens of educators come to the Keller house trying to help the Kellers’ child, 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rer
ANAGNOS: Deaf blind, mute—who knows? She is like a little safe, locked, that no one can open. Perhaps there is a treasure inside.
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In this passage, Mr. Anagnos, the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind (a real-life school for blind students), comments on Helen Keller’s situation. Anagnos is preparing his former student, Annie Sullivan, for her upcoming position as Helen Keller’s teacher. He describes Helen’s mind as being trapped in “a little safe.” Helen has a working mind, but she lacks any of the usual ways of expressing her thoughts and feelings: she doesn’t yet know how to speak, or write, or use sign language. It is Annie’s job, in short, to teach Helen how to “open” her mind, finding a 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 temp
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
ANNIE: I have three big advantages over Dr. Howe that money couldn't buy for you. One is his work behind me, I've read every word he wrote about it and he wasn't exactly what you'd call a man of few words. Another is to be young, why, I've got energy to do anything. The third is, I've been blind.
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Annie Sullivan arrives in Alabama and meets the Keller family. The Kellers—particularly James and Arthur—are somewhat doubtful about Annie’s abilities (especially because of her youth, and because of the family’s anti-“Yankee” bias). Sensing all this, Annie lists some of her qualifications. In spite of her youth, Annie is an educated woman, who understands techniques for educating people with disabilities. She also has the energy necessary to spend long hours working with Helen—unlike some of the more eminent doctors who have worked with Helen, Annie won’t burn out easily. The third reason Annie gives is probably the most important. Annie has 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum
KELLER: Here’s a houseful of grownups can't cope with the child, how can an inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl manage her?
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Captain Arthur Keller’s anti-Northern bias is palpable in this passage. Annie Sullivan has just arrived in Alabama from Massachusetts—a state that, for the wealthy, genteel Keller family, symbolizes everything wrong with Northern culture. Bostonians, Arthur claims, are rude, uncivilized, and generally incapable of following directions. Therefore, Arthur finds it unlikely that Annie will be able to teach Helen anything. The play is full of allusions to the legacy of the Civil War (it takes place in the 1880s, about two decades after the war ended with a Northern victory). One could even interpret the play as something of a metaphor 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. N
ANNIE: All right, Miss O'Sullivan. Let's begin with doll.
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In this passage, Annie begins her lessons with Helen. Annie has brought with her several items, including a large doll, which she intends to use to educate her new student. The doll clearly has special significance for Annie, since Annie began her education at the Perkins Institute for the Blind by studying a doll and, presumably, learning the words to describe it. It’s for this reason that Annie seems to be addressing herself in this passage—by educating Helen, Annie is in a sense revisiting her own early education, except this time she’s the teacher. Annie is an effective teacher for 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Ac
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
ANNIE: You think I'm so easily gotten rid of? You have a thing or two to learn, first. I have nothing else to do.
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The first act ends with Helen Keller tormenting Annie Sullivan, her new teacher. Helen hits Annie, drawing blood, and locks Annie in her room, hiding the key. These antics prove, first of all, that Helen is a wild, frustrated child. But they also suggest that Helen isn’t as ignorant as Arthur and James sometimes suggest she is. In reality, Helen is a bright young person (for example, she cleverly hid the key from a household of adults) but she has the massive disadvantage of being unable to see or hear. This passage, ultimately, is about Annie much more than it's 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Vol
Act 2 Quotes
ANNIE: Any baby. Gibberish, grown-up gibberish, baby-talk gibberish, do they understand one word of it to start? Somehow they begin to. If they hear it, I'm letting Helen hear it.
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At the beginning of Act Two, Annie continues to work one-on-one with Helen, showing her the hand signals for various basic English words. Kate Keller watches Annie working with Helen, and poses a question James Keller asked already: what’s the point of teaching Helen how to spell if Helen doesn’t even know what a word is? This time, Annie gives Kate a proper answer to the question. Helen will only be able to understand the concept of meaning if she understands sign language (or at least a couple words in sign language) already—in other words, the horse has to go 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 enim nesciunt. C
KATE: Miss Annie. You see, she's accustomed to helping herself from our plates to anything she—
ANNIE [Evenly]: Yes, but, I'm not accustomed to it.
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In this passage, the Kellers are sitting at dinner and, as usual, Helen is stealing food from others’ plates and eating it with her bare hands. The unusual part of this scene, however, is the presence of Annie Sullivan, Helen’s new teacher. Annie refuses to indulge Helen’s behavior. She tries to correct and improve it, depriving Helen of food in order to train her to exercise restraint and learn some manners. Annie’s aggressive teaching methods anger Captain Arthur Keller, who is accustomed to letting Helen do more or less whatever she wants. The passage is a good example of how 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 recu
KATE: My Helen—folded her napkin—
(And still erect, with only her head in surrender, KATE for the first time that we see loses her protracted war with grief; but she will not let a sound escape her, only the grimace of tears comes, and sobs that shake her in a grip of silence.)
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In this ambiguous passage, Kate Keller learns that Annie Sullivan has made some important progress with Helen Keller. Annie has taught Helen how to fold her napkin—a task that’s required the better part of the day for Helen to learn. When Kate learns what Annie has done for her child, she begins to weep. While the audience in a theater obviously wouldn’t be reading the stage directions accompanying this action, the stage directions paint Kate’s reaction in an unusual light. Kate, Gibson writes, loses her war with grief. This is a slightly surprising way to interpret the scene—one could argue 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tene
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: Mrs. Keller, I don't think Helen's worst handicap is deafness or blindness. I think it's your love. And pity.
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In this passage, Annie Sullivan stands up to Arthur and Kate Keller and tells them the plain truth: the reason that Helen Keller hasn’t yet learned how to read and communicate is that her parents spoil her. Arthur and Kate obviously love their child, and want to treat her nicely—but after a certain point, their kindness becomes counterproductive. Kate in particular is reluctant to punish Helen for her misbehavior, and the result is that Helen is emboldened to misbehave again and again. Furthermore, it sends Helen the message that there’s no point in her concentrating on learning to communicate. Recognizing 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
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
JAMES: That she isn't. That there's such a thing as-dullness of heart. Acceptance. And letting go. Sooner or later we all give up, don't we?
ANNIE: Maybe you all do. It’s my idea of the original sin.
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In this scene, audiences get a better sense for Annie’s personality—as well as James’s. James Keller tries to tease Annie for being so persistent in her teaching—he’s baffled and bemused that she would spend long hours teaching Helen the signs for words Helen doesn’t even understand. But when he tries to ridicule Annie for doing exactly this, his plan backfires. Annie claims that she despises the idea of giving up—it’s her idea of a sin. From their exchange, it’s clear that Annie thinks of James as someone who has given up—someone who has resigned himself to being unhappy and is 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. Ac
JAMES [in pain] Don't—
KATE: Captain.
KELLER: He's afraid.
(He throws JAMES away from him, with contempt.)
What does he want out of me?
JAMES [AN OUTCRY]: My God, don't you know?
(He gazes from KELLER to KATE.)
Everything you forgot, when you forgot my mother.
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In this scene, James’s impudence becomes too much for Captain Arthur Keller to bear. James mocks his father, obliquely, and Arthur responds by twisting James’s arm until James cries out in pain. This violent confrontation is enough to make James say, explicitly, what he has always been too intimidated to say: he resents his father for remarrying a younger woman, and in doing so, forgetting about James’s mother. James’s relationship with his father clearly isn’t good—but this is one of the only times in the play when Gibson gives some indication of why their relationship is so strained. James clearly 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. Nostr
Act 3 Quotes
JAMES: What does he want from me?
KATE: That's not the question. Stand up to the world, Jimmie, that comes first.
JAMES [A PAUSE, WRYLY]: But the world is him.
KATE: Yes. And no one can do it for you.
JAMES: Kate.
(His voice is humble.)
At least we—Could you—be my friend?
KATE: I am.
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Early in Act Three, James and Kate have a heart-to-heart. James admits that he’s frustrated with his father. In part, James dislikes his father (because, as we learned in Act Two, he resents that his father remarried). But in part, James is mystified by his gruff, intimidating father, and is unsure what Arthur wants from him. Kate’s advice is simple but useful: she tells James that he’ll never learn what Arthur wants from him until he stands up to him. He has to take a leap of faith—assert his own values and opinions—if he’s ever to have a decent, respectful 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi ne
ANNIE: Yes, what's it to me? They're satisfied. Give them back their child and dog, both housebroken, everyone's satisfied. But me, and you.
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After two weeks of trying to teach Helen Keller how to understand language, Annie Sullivan has almost given up. Arthur Keller is prepared to take Helen back into the house, where—Annie knows full well—Helen will be spoiled and regress, unlearning all the valuable lessons in politeness and manners that Annie has taught her. But Annie refuses to let this happen. Helen’s father, Annie understands, doesn't really seem to care whether Helen can communicate or not. He just wants an obedient, easy-to-manage daughter—one who can be quiet and behave herself and not cause a fuss. Annie finds this simply disgraceful: from 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. Occa
JAMES [LIGHTLY]: And Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with an angel until the breaking of the day and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him; and the angel said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And Jacob said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Amen.
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The Keller family, including Helen, as well as Annie Sullivan, back from the garden house, returns to the main house and sits down to eat. At supper, James says grace. He chooses an unusual verse from the Bible—the story of Jacob, who wrestled with an angel. In this story, Jacob’s struggle with the divine messenger wounds him, but also brings him closer to God—and, just as James says here, he is blessed as a reward. The Bible passage that James reads could be seen as a metaphor for Annie’s struggle with Helen. For most of the play, Annie has disagreed 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignis
JAMES: She's right, Kate's right, I'm right, and you're wrong. If you drive her away from here it will be over my dead-chair, has it never occurred to you that on one occasion you might be consummately wrong?
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In this crucial moment, James Keller finally stands up to his father, Captain Arthur Keller. Throughout the play, James has been sullen and sarcastic around his father: he’s forever cracking jokes about his father’s air of gruff authority, which Arthur usually finds very annoying. It’s pretty obvious that James resents his father, but it’s also pretty clear that James lacks the courage to stand up to his father and say exactly how he’s feeling. But after paying attention to Annie and Helen’s lessons, James seems to find the courage to stand up for himself. Instead of using language as a 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. D
HELEN: Wah. Wah.
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This is the most famous moment in The Miracle Worker. Annie Sullivan, desperate to teach her pupil, Helen Keller, the concept of meaning, spells out the symbol for “water” on Helen’s hand, and then runs her hand over water from a water pump. By alternating between the symbol and the real thing, Annie finally succeeds in teaching Helen the key lesson of language: that things have names. She utters her first word—the same word she spoke when she was six months old, shortly before catching the fever that made her deaf-blind. The passage is the culmination of Annie’s countless hours 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligend
(KATE moves to HELEN, touches her hand questioningly, and HELEN spells a word to her. KATE comprehends it, their first act of verbal communication, and she can hardly utter the word aloud, in wonder, gratitude, and deprivation; it is a moment in which she simultaneously finds and loses a child.)
KATE: Teacher?
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In this poignant scene, Gibson describes Kate as simultaneously finding and losing her child, Helen. Helen has just learned how to communicate via sign language. Using the signs Annie has been teaching her for the last two weeks, she learns the names for the objects and people in her life: first water, then the stairs leading into her house, then “mother” (for Kate) and “teacher” (for Annie). When Helen first communicates with Kate, touching her hand to spell out a word, the word she spells is not “mother”—it’s “teacher.” One way to interpret this scene is that, over the course 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non i
ANNIE: I, love, Helen.
(She clutches the child to her, tight this time, not spelling, whispering into her hair.)
Forever, and—
(She stops. The lights over the pump are taking on the color of the past, and it brings ANNIE’s head up, her eyes opening in fear; and as slowly as though drawn she rises, to listen, with her hand on HELEN’s shoulders. She waits, waits, listening with ears and eyes both, slowly here, slowly there: and hears only silence. There are no voices. The color passes on, and when her eyes come back to HELEN she can breathe the end of her phrase without fear:)
—ever.
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Explanation and Analysis:
The play ends by bringing Annie’s “character arc” to a close. Throughout the play, Annie has suggested that she is motivated to help Helen in part because of her guilt over the death of her beloved brother, Jimmie Sullivan. She experiences vivid, traumatic flashbacks, signaled by the dimming of the lights. Here, at the end of the play, the lights dim, but no echoing voices are heard—Jimmie’s vanished spirit doesn’t seem to haunt her any longer. The message, perhaps, is that by educating Helen, Annie has redeemed herself in her own eyes. She feels horrible for abandoning Jimmie to go 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 enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic
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