I love this movie! It is emotionally powerful and so intense in its telling! But there is a scene I don't understand. When Annie is teaching Helen the meaning of the word "Thimble," Ms. Sullivan seems to have it in her mouth and Helen seems to take it off her tongue. It happens very fast. If this is true, why would Ms. Sullivan have the thimble in her mouth?
Joe
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Annie was trying to inject some fun into the hard work of learning a language. Helen had to search for the thimble. It does occur to me that Annie might have been letting Helen know that she (Annie) knows about hiding things in your mouth, e.g. the key that Helen hid in her mouth early in the movie.
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I always assumed that it was part of Annie's strategy to get Helen comfortable with touching and being touched; before any learning could take place, Helen had to get used to Annie being up close and personal. Since all the finger spelling, mouthing and other communication techniques were first presented as some type of play or game, it makes sense that the thimble game of hide and seek also had a purpose. I'm guessing that it was to overcome any natural shyness she might have about touching another person's mouth (and even her lips, teeth, and tongue!) When they got to the point of proper "speech" lessons and manual lip-reading, Helen would have needed to be comfortable feeling around Annie's mouth (and vice-versa.)
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