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 20-23Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 20 Summary
Keller spends one more year of tutoring under Mr. Keith before entering college at Radcliffe. Determined to try her knowledge against those who could hear and see, Keller embarks on her collegiate journey only to find it is different than she had imagined it would be.
As eagerly as she attacks her studies, Keller also begins to see the downsides to college, namely the lack of time that she has to do all that must be done and to enjoy some time to herself. The time for reflection that she had indulged in for so long is limited by the need to study. Miss Sullivan spells the class lectures into Keller’s hand as fast as possible, and Keller thinks that she is not at a disadvantage from the students who can see and hear as they are desperately writing down notes and trying to keep up too.
For Keller, the object that helps her succeed in college is the Hammond typewriter as it is “best adapted to the peculiar needs of my work” (129). The moveable type shuttles on this model allow her to switch between different kinds of characters, such as geometrical figures and languages. Keller declares that she doubts she could have made it through college without her Hammond.
Books continue to be a challenge for Keller as so few are printed using Braille. Her friends, Mr. Wade and Mr. Allen of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind do everything possible to obtain Braille copies of texts for her. Consequently, Keller must spend far more time studying and preparing for class than her counterparts, causing some envy to crop up in her heart. Yet, she rights herself by looking at the situation as yet another challenge to be overcome: “For, after all, every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way” (130).
One of Keller’s greatest challenges in college is the emphasis on studying and analyzing the minutest aspects of subject matter rather than focusing on the feelings such things evoke in a person. Keller believes that “many scholars forget, it seems to me, that our enjoyment of the great works of literature depends more upon the depth of our sympathy than upon our understanding” (132). The amount of detail required overwhelms Keller at some points, causing her to despair of ever ordering the objects in her mind as she is instructed.
Upon examination of her feelings, she understands that some good comes out of this practice, that being the development of the virtue patience. Keller concludes, “rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge — broad, deep knowledge — is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low” (136).
Chapter 21 Summary
Keller dedicates this chapter to her greatest passion in learning: books. She takes readers back to when she read her first connected book at the age of seven, and how that moment spurred on her love for books of all kinds. In particular, her first trip to Boston is where her love for books truly blossomed, starting with Miss Sullivan giving her Little Lord Fauntleroy to read. This book became a long-standing favorite of Keller’s, encouraging her reading habit that was to assist her with her future education.
Keller spends significant time in this chapter discussing her favorite books and authors, namely the Greek classics, Shakespeare, the Bible, Little Women, and works by Twain and Whitman, the latter whom Keller met. Her affinity for animals is strengthened by her reading of texts such as The Jungle Book, in which the reader “sympathizes with their loves and hatreds, laughs over their comedies, and weeps over their tragedies. And if they point a moral, it is so subtle that we are not conscious of it” (143).
Above all, Keller emphasizes the power of books to be relatable to all persons, whether whole or hurt. “How easy it is to fly on paper wings!” (145) Keller declares as books have a power wholly unto their own when combined with human imagination.
Books buoy her interests in poetry and history, but for Keller, books are important because of the equal footing they place her on amongst the rest of the world. In books, she says:
“I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. The things I have learned and the things I have been taught seem of ridiculously little importance compared with their ‘large loves and heavenly charities’” (154).
Chapter 22 Summary
Aside from her love of books, Keller shares her passion for outdoor activities in this chapter. She shares her experiences of canoeing, rowing, and sailing with her friends. In 1901, she and Miss Sullivan travel to Nova Scotia where Keller is enamored of the natural beauty in Halifax. Both women experience some excitement when, after watching a regatta, the sailboat they were on is tossed about in a sudden storm.
Keller passes her summer in the idyllic village of Wrentham, in Massachusetts, with the Chamberlin family, and there immerses herself in nature, mentioning, in particular, her tree friends, including an oak, which she calls the “king-tree” (159), and a linden that sadly falls after a thunderstorm.
For Keller, the little cottage at Wrentham is a safety net for her and Miss Sullivan, protecting them from the realities of the real world, such as the news of war that was brewing. The harshness Keller confronts when traveling into the city — the struggling poor and their children trying to survive on next to nothing — leaves a mark upon her: “I grow hot and indignant to think that good people should be content to live in fine houses and become strong and beautiful, while others are condemned to live in hideous, sunless tenements and grow ugly, withered and cringing” (162).
The remainder of Keller’s time in New England that summer is filled with knitting and crocheting, playing with other children nearby, and visiting art museums and the theatre. She admits that despite all the beauty and opportunity in her life, her soul is still occasionally overcome with depression at her condition. At these times, Keller reminds herself: “Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, ‘There is joy in self-forgetfulness.’ So I try to make the light in others’ eyes my sun, the music in others’ ears my symphony, the smile on others’ lips my happiness” (170).
Chapter 23 Summary
In the final chapter of her personal sketch, Keller thanks those people who have made her life brighter and have helped her to succeed in her education and upbringing. Aside from her beloved teacher Miss Sullivan, Keller mentions the individuals who have most influenced her, some she had met and some she had not ever seen.
Keller speaks specifically about Bishop Brooks, whom she knew as a child, and whose patience and love for God taught Keller “two great ideas: the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and made me feel that these truths underlie all creeds and forms of worship” (174). She also notes the moving meetings that she had with two of America’s Fireside Poets, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, whom Keller moved to tears, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
Keller is thankful to the myriad of people she met on her journeys, including Laurence Hutton, William Dean Howells, and Mark Twain, “I feel the twinkle of his eye in his handshake. Even while he utters his cynical wisdom in an indescribably droll voice, he makes you feel that his heart is a tender Iliad of human sympathy” (180 - 181).
Finally, Keller expresses her sincere gratitude to an unnamed individual who “kind to every one, […] goes about doing good, silent and unseen” (181). She expresses her joy in knowing this man, and she acknowledges his generosity in helping her to attend college.
Keller declares that her life of darkness has been filled with light because “my friends have made the story of my life” (182), and in doing so, gave this young woman the courage to succeed despite the obstacles in her way.
Chapters 20-23 Analysis
Keller achieves her dream of attending college although it is not all that she thought it would be. The amount of work and studying leave little personal time, which takes some adjustment. Keller struggles to adapt to the college method of examining and analyzing seemingly small and tedious aspects of study. She is driven more by an interest in the feelings that subject matter evokes in her rather than the analysis of minute details.
Keller’s deep love for reading is returned to as she takes readers back to the first complete story she read when she was a little girl. She talks about authors and works that have inspired her throughout her educational journey. She focuses on what books have afforded her, a great gift in her eyes: the ability to use her imagination and leave her restrictive conditions behind.
After her first year of college, Keller takes refuge with family friends in the village of Wrentham. Here she revels in her beloved natural world despite having to acknowledge the ugly realities that hover at its edges: the growing threat of war and plight of the poor in the large cities of America.
Finally, Keller takes the last chapter of her book to show her immense gratitude toward her friends and family for their support and assistance on her incredible journey. She is also appreciative toward the other famous writers she encountered in her youth, particularly Mark Twain and the Fireside poets Holmes and Whittier.
Keller concludes saying that despite her blindness, her life has been filled with light because of her friends, and that light helped her to face and overcome every challenge she encountered in her life.
