The Miracle Worker

Society’s dehumanization of disabled communities is communicated by the motif of animals. Additionally, this motif tracks Helen’s arc throughout the play. When Helen first appears, she runs rampant about the house, threatening the safety of Martha, Percy, and Mildred. Captain Keller exclaims, “It’s not safe to let her run around loose. Now there must be a way of confining her, somehow, so she can’t—” to which Kate replies, “Where, in a cage? She’s a growing child, she has to use her limbs!” (13).

Kate refuses to put her daughter in a hospital. Her reasoning is discovered later in the play: “I visited there. I can’t tell you what I saw, people like—animals, with rats, in the halls” (61). The comparison of Helen to a caged animal speak to society’s dehumanization of disabled communities on an individual, micro-level. Kate’s visit to a hospital for those with disabilities, combined with Annie’s memories from her time at Tewksbury, address this dehumanization on a macro-level.

When Annie arrives and begins to teach Helen sign language, James scoffs, saying “You think she knows what she’s doing? […] She imitates everything. She’s a monkey” (30). Though James is skeptical about Helen’s potential, Annie sees that there is something else inside Helen.