21.

What was the incident of the Frost King? How did it affect Helen?

Helen had written a little story called ‘The Frost King’, which she had sent to Mr. Anagnos of the Perkins Institution for the Blind. The latter was delighted with it and published the story in one of the institutional reports. However, it was discovered that a story similar to her ‘The Frost King’ called ‘The Frost Fairies’ by Miss. Margaret T. Canby had appeared before Helen was born, in a book called ‘Birdie and His Friends’. The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby’s story had been read to Helen and that her story was a case of plagiarism. A court of investigation was constituted that consisted of eight people, four blind, four people with vision and votes were cast to arrive at a decision. Mr. Anagnos, who had supported Helen initially, changed tack and cast his vote against her. The incident scarred Helen in such a way that for a very long time, she could not produce any creative work. She became excessively scrupulous about everything she wrote and the thought that whatever she wrote was not her original work tormented her. Miss Sullivan had to console her and allay her fears to in every which way possible in order to restore the confidence that Helen had lost. Eventually, Helen resumed her writing, after being urged by her teacher.