Comparing Johnson And Helen Keller

There is a social connection between how people view non-normative bodies and mental capabilities and it is apparent in the texts “The Monster” and “The Story of My Life”. In the texts, Johnson and Keller were treated differently because of their non-normative bodies. Although Johnson’s and Keller’s lives were affected by their disabilities, Henry Johnson lost his humanity while Helen Keller gained her humanity. Both texts show the challenges of being physically different from other people but have different messages the authors try to get across to the audience. “The Monster” describes how Henry Johnson’s mental capacity is equivalent to their outward appearance, while “The Story of My Life” describes how Helen Keller can change and overcome
One of the little girls in the text was so afraid of him and could not identify Johnson as a man: “She was not coherent even to her mother. Was it a man? She didn’t know. It was simply a thing, a dreadful thing” (Stephen, 120 course reader). Not only was Johnson treated poorly, but he was referred to as a thing. People have no longer viewed Johnson as a human being, but as a creature. Everyone who saw Johnson were afraid he would hurt them, and they did not listen to him when he tried to talk to them. By using the words dreadful in the sentence, it shows how Johnson’s peers negatively viewed him because of his outward appearance. Johnson dealt with the challenges of not having a normal face and was viewed as a monster because of it, which made it impossible for him to live a normal
Keller writes, “It pleased me to domineer over her, and she generally submitted to my tyranny rather than risk a hand-to-hand encounter” (Keller, 186). By using the words domineer and tyranny, it demonstrates the power Keller has over Martha. Keller wanted to convey to her audience that even before she learned how to communicate with others, she was still superior to African Americans. By describing her reign over Martha Washington, Keller proved to her audience that she was mentally fine and only her body was