Helen Keller was blind, but she continued to advocate for disability rights. She wrote this letter to Mark Twain. Previously, she met him in 1895 and they became good friends at a meeting in New York. However, she would be absent and couldn’t deliver this speech this time, so she wanted to invite him to read this letter for her at the meeting. It’s not only about calling on all kind folks who devote themselves to mankind, but also for those blind people who suffer a lot. She writes about how we can truly help blind people because they are really struggling in the darkness, just to chase a bit of lightened hope. Although it’s such a pity that she can’t be there in person, she still believes the whole world could care about their rights and comfort all disabilities. All of this is to let the whole world listen to her in order to provide blind people opportunities of working and helping them out in an optimistic way.
The use of ethos is evident throughout the letter, particularly in Keller’s references to her personal experiences and status as a woman. She has automatic ethos as both she and Mark Twain are famous writers because they have authority and are respected by lots of readers. Their reputation can spontaneously gain audience’s validation. On the other hand, she builds ethos by demonstrating “I am a woman” - this kind of feminism, also because she is blind herself and only able to receive words “fall from your lips” so that she knows best how this feels for them. This allows her to speak out their true wills.
The use of logos is clear in Keller’s discussion of the cause and effect relationship between blindness and loss of livelihood. She proposed that turning blind, which is the cause, changed a person from a successful businessman to a vagrant by gradually eroding his ambition. We can see this result in destroying this tough man. Therefore, we need to avoid similar tragedies from happening again by letting them go back to “lucrative toil” rather than giving meaningless charity. This is followed by a concession and refutation afterwards. She first concedes that “you can’t bring back the light” and then refutes this by saying “you can give a helping hand” which means we shouldn’t just stand by, yet we should do something to improve the condition of the adult blind maybe by providing them work opportunities and teaching them new skills.
Finally, the use of pathos is particularly strong in Keller’s descriptions of the physical and emotional burdens of blindness. The description of site and feel created a vivid imagery about how terrible it feels for not being able to see. There are “shoulders ache for the burden” and “night envelops all the visible world.” This also helps Mark Twain and everyone else imagine what they’re enduring day by day. This is kind of like adding some personal anecdote at the same time for gaining our sympathy and empathy. So far, according to the rhetorical situation and the combination of these three rhetorical appeals that have been discussed above, Helen Keller wrote a great letter for letting the whole world accept disabilities in a better way.