The Miracle Worker/Characters

Annie Sullivan

Anne Mansfield Sullivan is a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" who moves to Alabama to try to teach language to Helen Keller.

Annie: Well, what should I say, I’m an ignorant opinionated girl, and everything I am I owe to you?
Anagnos: That is only half true, Annie.
Annie: Which half?

You Make Me Sic: Annie admits from the start that she isn’t good at spelling, but she starts studying her dictionary to be sure that anything she spells to Helen, she spells right.

Helen Keller

Struck by illness as an infant which left her deaf and blind, six-year-old Helen is wild and out of control with no way of communicating with others.

And I Must Scream: Far more realistic and less gruesome than most examples, Helen spent five years in complete darkness and silence with no way of communicating with the people around her except for vague gestures and horrible tantrums.
Epiphany Therapy: Once she learns about language, everything gets better.
The Speechless: While not physically mute, Helen does not know how to speak, and most of her vocalizations are wordless, feral sounds.
Spoiled Brat: Her parents can’t find it in their hearts to “discipline an afflicted child.”
Talking in Your Sleep: Finger-spelling in her sleep.
Wild Child

Kate Keller

Helen's mother

Captain Arthur Keller

Helen's father

Doting Parent
Officer and a Gentleman: Tries hard to be this, though his temper and impatience often get the better of him.
Southern Gentleman
"Well Done, Son" Guy

James Keller

Helen's older half-brother