Helen Adams Keller was born a healthy baby on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. By the time Keller was nineteen months she was left blind and death after what was either scarlet fever or meningitis. Throughout her life she encountered many difficulties that encouraged her to do several outstanding things. Helen Keller possesses heroic characteristics through her phenomenal accomplishments and her competence to deal with her disabilities. .
In the article "What is a Hero?" Gibbon states that "The greatest burden the word hero carries today is the expectation that a hero be perfect." "As a society, we need to explore a more suitable complex definition of the word hero, suitable for an informative age, one that acknowledges weaknesses as well as strengths but at the same time, one that does not set the bar too low" (Gibbon 224). In the article "Blind Rage: An Open Letter to Helen Keller" Georgina Kleege expresses her frustration towards Keller proving that she has a flaw. "People have been saying it in your stead. "Thing s could be worse", they say. "Think about Helen Keller. Yes you're blind, but she was deaf too. And no one ever heard her complain"" (Kleege 189). Kleege admits that Helen Keller is an important hero, but she sets the bar too high. The fact that Keller never talked about her bad days or problems made people feel as though other blind people or people with disabilities were not supposed to complain. Keller's weakness was not setting the bar too low but instead it turned out to be setting the bar too high. Her struggles would have made her appear more human like to the world. As Gibbon said, a person's weakness does not take away from them being a hero but it helps to define them as a stronger hero.
Helen Keller possesses a very strong and determined character. .
In the article "From The World I Live In," she states "My fingers cannot, of course, get the impression of a large whole at a glance; but I feel the parts, and my mind puts them together" (Keller 3).
