Act II is a very dramatic section of this play, because we
see Annie beginning to impose her regime upon Helen and upon the Keller family. One of
the most important sections of this act to my mind comes at the dinner table, when Helen
tries to take Annie's plate, as she is accustomed to feeding herself from other people's
plates during dinner time. Annie's outburst against Keller's insistence that she lets
Helen have her way and accepts another plate summarises the real struggle that is going
on in this scene. When she is told by Keller that she should have more pity for Helen,
note how she responds:
Pity? For this tyrant? The
whole house turns on her whims, is there anything she watns she doesn't get? I'll tell
you what I pity, that the sun won't rise and set for her all her life, and every day
you're telling her it will, what good will your pity do her when you're under the
strawberries, Captain
Keller?
We see that the
conflict between Keller and Annie is really about what is best for Helen. Annie
recognises that Helen has been allowed to become a "tyrant" in the house, and that her
biggest opponent in a sense is not Helen but her parents who have allowed her to become
like she is. Thus the conflict between Annie and Captain Keller is dramatic because the
fate of Helen and Annie's successful treatment of her depends on the outcome of this
conflict.
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