42 pages • 1 hour read
Helen KellerThe Story of My Life
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1902A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-12 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Before returning home to Alabama, Keller and Miss Sullivan are invited to stay with a friend, Mrs. Hopkins, on Cape Cod. This vacation offers Keller her first chance to swim in the ocean, a prospect that thrills her at first. Keller refers to the ocean as her “most vivid recollection of that summer” (62). She had read about the sea in one of her books and is eager to swim in it.
Keller’s plunge into the ocean is what she hoped for at first; she says, “The buoyant motion of the water filled me with an exquisite, quivering joy” (62). That joy gives way to terror when she is overcome by the waves, and slips on the floor of the ocean, losing her balance and going under the water. The tide throws Keller back towards shore where Miss Sullivan helps her out of the ocean.
Despite her momentary upset, Keller finds an affinity for the sea, declaring, “I could never stay long enough on the shore” (64). On another trip to the ocean, Miss Sullivan catches a horseshoe crab and brings it to Keller, who decides to keep it as a pet. She brings the crab back to the Hopkins home and demands that Miss Sullivan place the crab in a trough by a well. The next morning, Keller finds that the crab is gone. She is very disappointed at first, but then realized that it isn’t right to remove a living creature from its natural habitat. She ends the chapter by hoping the crab has made its way back to the ocean.
Chapter 11 Summary
Keller recalls the times spent at her family’s cottage on a mountain some distance from their home. Called Fern Quarry, the cottage is immersed in the nature that Keller has come to love and revere in her life. She reminisces about the times spent with her cousins and the other visitors who come to the cottage. In particular, Keller discusses the smells and sounds that she “feels” while she is there.
Not surprisingly, Keller enjoys journeying in nature with Miss Sullivan. Having just finished reading the book Black Beauty, Keller names her sturdy pony the same, having learned that he is black with a white star on his forehead, like the title character. The pony is so dependable that on occasion, Miss Sullivan would drop the leading rein and allow Keller to ride the horse by herself.
When she didn’t feel like riding, Keller loved to wander through the surrounding woods with her sister, Mildred, and her teacher. One day, they go too far on their hike and become lost. Mildred spots the trestle for the nearby train tracks, indicating a short cut back to the cottage. As they approach the tracks, though, they hear a train coming. Caught on the trestle as the train roars by, the three figures are frightened as the frame shakes beneath their feet. They return home after dark to find that everyone at the cottage has been out looking for them for hours.
Chapter 12 Summary
Keller spends every winter from that point forward in Boston. During this time, she encounters her first snowfall and snowstorm. Keller personifies the winter by indicating that its hands have stripped the leaves from the trees and emptied birds’ nests. As the snow begins to fall, Keller rushes outside to feel it on her face. At night, the companions entertain themselves by the fire, while the gusting wind “thrilled us with a vague terror” (74).
After three days, the storm subsides, and Keller goes out into a cold world where “So dazzling was the light, it penetrated even the darkness that veils my eyes” (75). Eventually, the snow begins to melt only to be replaced shortly afterwards by another storm.
Keller’s favorite activity that winter is tobogganing where she is able to relish the freedom of racing down a snowy hill, experiencing a connection with the swirling wind that she calls “divine” (76).
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
These chapters focus on the variety of environments Keller began to experience in her childhood. She takes her first dip in the ocean in Cape Cod, a thrilling experience that abruptly turns frightening when she is caught in the waves. The momentary terror, though, does not stop Keller from enjoying the ocean daily.
Upon returning home, Keller spends time at her family’s cottage, Fern Quarry, where she is surrounded by her beloved nature, and her family and friends. She enjoys riding her pony, and when not riding, she and her teacher hike through the natural world around them. On one occasion, they hike too far and become lost. Taking a short cut home on the train trestle, they are passed by a train, a terrifying experience for Keller.
Spending her winters in the North, Keller experiences her first snowfall and subsequent snowstorms. She enjoys the time with her friends, especially her teacher Miss Sullivan, and learns to take joy in the cold weather. She finds that she loves to toboggan with her friends down the snowy hills in Boston. Overall, Keller is learning not to let the fear of first experiences color her feelings toward the world around her.
