The Story of My Life Chapter 2 (Detailed Summary)

 The Story of My Life

Chapter 2 (Detailed Summary)

During the first months of illness, Helen had grown very possessive of her mother and she sat in her lap for most of the time. She did not want to leave her and always clung to her dress when she had to do some household activity. As time passed, in the beginning, she started learning things by touching them. She also felt the need to communicate with others and, very soon, she started making crude signs. She was able to understand that shaking of the head meant ‘no’ and the nod (to move the head down and up)meant ‘yes’; a pull meant ‘come’ and a push meant ‘go’. If she ever wanted bread, she used to imitate the act of cutting slices and putting butter on them. If she desired to eat ice-cream, she would make the sign for working the freezer and shiver. It indicated cold. Her mother made her understand many things. Helen felt greatly obliged to her for the service she did to her in that difficult time.

When she was five, she came to know, how to fold clean clothes and put them away when they were brought in from the laundry. She could rercognise her own clothes from the rest also. She could also understand that her mother and aunt were going out by the way she used to dress up them. Once she heard the shutting of the front door and some other sounds. She, at once, understood that some guests were coming and she ran upstairs to put on a company dress. She stood in front of the mirror, anointed (covered) her head with oil and face with powder. Then she came down after covering her face with a veil and did some other antics to entertain the guests. Gradually she came to know that she was different from others. She noticed that her mother and her friends did not use signs as she did when she wanted to get anything done and they talked with the mouth. Sometimes, she used to stand up between two persons, who were conversing and touched their lips. She was unable to understand that and it made her vexed (confused) at times. She also moved her lips and made gestures frantically but all in vain. That made her so angry that she kicked at things and cried until she was exhausted (tired).

 Helen also narrates as to when she came to know that she was a naughty girl. Once she kicked Ella, her nurse, who was hurt at it. Then she had a feeling like that of regret. She further tells us that she continued her naughtiness till her wish was not fulfilled.

After that she tells us about her friend. There was a little coloured girl, named Martha Washington, who was the child of their cook and Belle, an old setter (a large long-haired breed of dog). Both of them were her constant companions. She also tells us that she took pleasure in dominating her and she would submit easily to her tyranny (dictatorship) to avoid any hand-to-hand encounter (fight). Helen was strong and active and did not care for any consequences (results often bad). (11:42)

She passed most of her time with Martha in kitchen, kneading dough balls, helping in making ice cream, grinding coffee, quarrelling over the cake bowl, feeding the hens, the turkeys (large birds like cock) that came near the kitchen steps and so on She says that many of the birds were so tame that they preferred eating with her hands only.

One of her greatest delights was to hunt for eggs in the long grass. She would not tell Martha about her going hunting, but Martha always understood it and she always followed Helen. She would double up the hands if they could find a nest. She never allowed Martha to take the eggs home, making her understand with some forceful signs. She feared that Martha would fall down and break the eggs. There were some other places like sheds where the corn was placed, the stable where horses were kept, the yard where the cows were kept and these were the sources of interest. She also enjoyed playing with Martha in the evening also. The milkers often allowed her to keep her hands on cows when they milked them.

In the next paragraph, Helen makes us acquainted with the activities she liked during the Charismas day in the house. She liked the odour that filled the house and the tidbits (pieces of special food) that were given to Martha and her to make them quiet. They were also given other tasks like grinding the spices, picking over the raisins, and licking the stirring spoons. Both the girls, Martha and Helen, had a great interest in doing mischief. One hot July afternoon, both of them were sitting on the verandah steps.

Martha’s colour was black as ebony (used for black colour, but it also means the black hardwood of the tropical trees.), with little bunches of fuzzy (tangled) hair tied with shoestrings that were sticking all over her head like corkscrews. The other was white with her long golden curls. One child was aged six years and the other was two or three years older. The younger child was Helen and the older one is Martha Washington. They were busy cutting out paper rolls, but very soon they felt bored of that type of amusement. After cutting their shoestrings and clipping all the leaves from the honeysuckle, that they could reach easily, she changed her attention to Martha’s corkscrews. In the beginning, Martha objected, but finally she did not say anything. Thinking it an interesting game, she picked up the scissors and cut off Martha’s curls of hair. She would have cut all if her mother had not stopped her on time.

Helen’s other friend was Belle the dog that was always lazy and liked to sleep by the fire. It did not like to romp (play energetically). She tried hard to teach the dog her sign language, but the dog was inattentive and lazy. Belle would get up, stretch herself lazily, give one or two sniffs, go to the opposite side of the hearth and again lie down there. In disappointment, Helen would go in search of Martha.

 

One day she happened to spill water on her apron and she tried to dry it up in front of the fire that was flickering  on the sitting-room hearth. As it was taking time to dry up, she drew nearer and nearer and just put it right over the hot ashes. Her apron caught fire at once and she made a terrifying noise. Her old nurse Vinnie heard the cries and she reached there to rescue Helen at once. She wrapped a blanket around her and also put out the fire.

In her next paragraph, Helen narrates her serious mischief when she learned to use the key. One morning she locked her mother in the pantry for three hours. At that time, the servants were in other parts of the house. Helen remained sitting outside on the porch laughing at the fun she had created at the moment while her mother kept ponding at the door. That naughtiest prank of hers convinced her parents that their daughter needed education urgently. A teacher, named, Miss Sullivan was appointed to educate her. She also became Helen’s victim once. She got the opportunity to lock Miss Sullivan in her room when she went upstairs to bring something as directed by her mother to be given to Miss Sullivan.

After that, she went into Miss Sullivan’s room to deliver the thing. As soon as she gave the thing to her, she slammed the door too, locked it, and hid the key under the wardrobe () in the hall. After that, a stair was used to lift Miss Sullivan out of the room through a window. Helen produced the key to her parents months after the incident.

When Helen was of five years, the family shifted to a large house. The family consisted of her father, mother, two older half brothers (a brother with whom you share one parent only), a sister (born later) Mildred. She narrates one incident more here and that puzzled her most of the time. Her father used to read a paper by holding it to a height that made it comfortable for her to read. He wore spectacles also. Helen was at a loss to make a point out of it. She also tried to imitate all that to solve the mystery . But she could understand it later on as to what those papers were.

Helen describes her father as very loving and caring, who loved to remain at home for maximum time except when he went hunting. He was a great hunter and excellent shooter. He loved his dog and guns. He was hospitable almost to a fault because he always brought a guest.

It was said that he loved his garden where he raised watermelons and strawberries which were said to be the finest in the county (region). He brought the first ripe grapes and berries of her choice. Helen also remembers it very fondly that her father led her from tree to tree and from vine to vine. He also took delight in pleasing her. He was also a very good storyteller. When she acquired the skill of language, he used to spell clumsily (in an awkward way) on her handsome interesting stories. He also wished that those stories should be repeated by Helen at some opportune (appropriate) time.

The news of her father’s death reached her when she was in the North, enjoying the last beautiful days of the summer season. Her father died after a brief illness and acute suffering for a short time. After that, all was over. That was her first great sorrow. She says that her mother was very neat to her. She finds no words to write about her.

After that, we come to know what she thought about her little sister. She regarded her as an intruder. She did not want that anybody could share her mother’s attention, affection, and care. She was full of jealousy for her because she sat in her mother’s lap all the time.

At one time, she had a doll, which she named Nancy afterward. Unfortunately, it became a victim of her outbursts and affection. She had several other dolls also, which could talk, cry and open and shut their eyes. But she loved Nancy, the doll above them all. She had a cradle and she spent her maximum time rocking her (moving it backward and forward). She guarded both of them, the cradle and the doll with utmost care.

One day, she found her sister sleeping peacefully in that cradle. She grew angry at this because she had no emotional bonding with the child at that time. She rushed upon the cradle and overturned it. The child must have been killed if her mother had not reached there to save it on time. Afterward, when she grew up and came to know about human values; she became very affectionate to her sister. Wherever she went, she went with her. Her sister could not understand her finger language, nor did she understand her childish prattle (nonsense, chatter)