The Story of My Life: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

Helen writes that she hopes her readers don’t think that reading is the only pleasure she has in life, and insists that the amusements she enjoys are “many and varied.” She refers to her love of nature, the country, and outdoor sports; as a girl, she loved swimming, and now when she is in Wrentham, Massachusetts, she “almost live[s]” in her boat. She takes great pleasure in taking her friends out rowing, though she must rely on others to steer the rudder while she rows with the oars. She feels exhilarated when rowing, enjoying the “imperious surge of the water” and the way the boat becomes “obedient to [her] will and muscle.”

Helen also enjoys canoeing on moonlit nights. She explains that even though she can’t see the moon, she loves knowing that she is beneath its glow, and feels “a luminous warmth” during these nighttime trips out on the water.

Last year, as soon as her exams were over, Helen and Miss Sullivan traveled to Wrentham, where they have a little cottage on a lake. The thoughts of “work and college and the noisy city” faded from Helen’s mind as she took in the sensations of the nature of the countryside, and though the two of them occasionally caught “echoes” of fighting in the Pacific and the struggles between capital and labor in society, they were ensconced in their own Eden. Helen writes that readers and friends have expressed surprise that Helen, robbed of sight and hearing, is attuned to the differences between the city and the country, but Helen says that these people forget that her “whole body is alive” to the conditions in which she finds herself.

Helen reflects on the visits she has made to see the poor and downtrodden, and she reveals her distress at the fact that wealthy people live comfortable lives of peace and luxury while the poor must live in “hideous” tenements and grow “ugly, withered, and cringing” over the years. Memories of the urchins in the alleys of her city “haunt” Helen, and she believes that if the world was not so focused on city living and people returned to nature, these children would grow up “stately” and nourished by the natural world.

In the countryside, Helen takes leisurely walks and rides on her and Miss Sullivan’s tandem bicycle. Her dog often accompanies her on these outings—she has had many pets over the years, and is always heartened by their sensitivity her limitations, as well as their affectionate demeanors. When Helen cannot go outside due to weather, she enjoys knitting and crocheting, checkers and chess, and playing games of solitaire with special cards embossed in braille.

Helen also enjoys taking in art and museums; though she cannot see the paintings or sculptures, she loves touching great works of art, and finds that her fingers can “discover the thought and emotion which the artist has portrayed.” She keeps a medallion of Homer hung low on the wall of her study so that she can reach out and touch it, and remind herself of Homer’s triumphs in spite of his struggles.

Another of Helen’s great pleasures, though it is a rarer one, is attending the theatre. She likes having plays described to her while they are being acted in front of her, because she enjoys feeling as if she is “living in the midst of stirring events.” She has met many accomplished actors and actresses, and often even gets to have private audiences or behind the scenes visits with them in which they perform for her while she touches their wigs, costumes, and bodies so as to better get a sense of the action.

In reflecting on all her pleasures and passions, Helen writes that her life, even with all its limitations, “touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful.” Though sometimes, in her dark and silent world, Helen finds herself enveloped in isolation and sorrow, she remembers that “there is joy in self-forgetfulness,” and in these moments dedicates herself to making the light in the eyes of others her sun, the music in the ears of others her symphony, and the smile on the lips of others her happiness.