"Knowing not to sit on the furniture, she crouched, instead, in doorways and hallways, and observed gestures and manners in the
same way a person tends to watch traffic in a foreign city." (76)

explanation:

the goblins and dwarves have different perspectives of things. bilbo is a hobbit and goblins dwarves and hobbits all believe and do a different way of living

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the miracle worker themeswilliam gibson

themes and meanings

(comprehensive guide to drama)

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there are two central themes in  the miracle worker: that the human spirit can triumph over even the most daunting of disabilities and that a dedicated teacher can transform the lives of those with whom he or she comes into contact. these inspirational themes have long been personified in the widely known true-life relationship between helen keller and annie sullivan, but  the miracle worker  also dramatizes collateral issues that extend beyond the particular case. underlying helen’s process of learning basic principles of what annie terms “obedience” (decorum, etiquette, and hygiene), there are more universal lessons of self-governance—the inculcation of self-restraint instead of willfulness, the development of self-discipline instead of self-indulgence. only when these lessons have been mastered can helen begin to acquire language—which, annie says, “is to the mind more than light is to the eye.”

the father plays a very vital role in the life of the narrator in the story. the father is that person who may be physically absent but is also the one who just existed in the mind or the memory of the narrator. in the mind of the storyteller, his father during the time he was with their family was dutiful, orderly and straightforward. but when the narrator was asked who has always the final say, it would always be the mother. it is because of the father’s departure that made the authority of the mother waive and became questionable. the father’s leaving really made a big impact in his family’s lives. the father never set foot on land and he was more towards the lonely nature because as the story said he never acknowledged the existence of his family after his departure but it is implied to the reader that the reason why the father stayed and rowed nearby to maintain togetherness.