Thursday, April 5, 2012

In The Miracle Worker, what is Captain Keller's job?

Captain Keller, a loyal Southerner who served in the Civil War, is a cotton plantation owner and editor of a local weekly newspaper who wields power both in the business world and in the domestic world. No domestic decisions are made without his approval. 

Perhaps it is his jounalistic background which causes him to be skeptical about the possibilities of his daughter Helen being able to learn from her new tutor, Anne Sullivan.  In the play "The Miracle Worker" Captain Keller acts as the antagonist to Anne, whom he first considers rude because of her candor and with whom he comes into conflict regarding the tutoring of Helen.  It is not until Anne brings Helen to the pump to make her fill the pitcher that Helen has emptied upon her, an experience that causes Helen to make connections between the hand-spelling and the person or thing, that Captain Keller gives Anne respect.

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