Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Story of My Life, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Determination and Perseverance
Storytelling and Communication
Education
Friendship, Community, and Goodwill
Summary
Analysis
In May of 1888, Helen, her mother, and Miss Sullivan took a journey by train to Boston to the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Helen was no longer restless and excitable, and did not require the attention of everyone on the train to keep her amused. Instead, Helen sat quietly beside Miss Sullivan, who spelled into Helen’s hands descriptions of the countryside as it flew by. At the school, Helen was thrilled to meet friends and classmates who were just like her. Helen was thrilled to be in Boston, and delighted in taking in the history of the city as well as her new friends. She visited Bunker Hill and Plymouth Rock, and learned the wonderful stories behind the histories of both places. Helen, having made so many wonderful new friends in Boston, forevermore referred to the place as “the City of Kind Hearts.”
Helen’s journey to Boston illuminated for her the delights and comforts of finding a true community. As Helen’s education continued, she delighted in learning new things about a new place, and experiencing a big city for the first time. Her impressions of Boston left her with lasting memories of friendship and goodwill, and served as a touchstone and a reminder of all the joys that education could bring into her life.
Themes
Literary Devices
