3 minute read
Blindness - Zachary Hopper
aegis 2008
Zachary Hopper
In Blindness, José Saramago probes deep into the realm of human nature, creating a novel that both celebrates and condemns humanity. Set in an unnamed city, Blindness is the story of an epidemic of “white blindness” that swiftly spreads across the country, sowing seeds of chaos and turmoil with each person struck down. The novel focuses on the first people to be infected—a man and his wife, a little boy, (ironically) an optometrist and his wife, and several other people brought together by chance—and their struggle to survive. As the blindness spreads, the government confines the blind and infected to an asylum in an effort to contain the disease. While society on the outside is rapidly deteriorating, the society of the blind has already hit rock bottom. In the asylum, Saramago presents us with a frightening glimpse of the Hobbesian state of nature: armed gangs rape women, hoard food rations, and kill with wanton disregard; frightened, trigger-happy soldiers guarding the asylum execute any blind person that gets too close; filthy living conditions mirror the state of the internees’ morals, and soon it becomes a fight just to retain one’s dignity. But when the soldiers become blind as well, the internees are able to join the outside world, or what is left of it. Led by the doctor’s wife, who has miraculously retained her sight throughout their ordeal, the group ventures forth in search of food and shelter. Immune to the white blindness, animals have begun to reclaim parts of the city, with packs of feral dogs preying on the infected citizens. Fortunately, the group crosses paths with a good-tempered dog that provides protection and companionship. Through the eyes of the doctor’s wife and discussions with other people, they learn that food is scarce and that people are being driven further away from the city in search of something to eat. The doctor’s wife manages to find a storeroom with food and supplies that went unnoticed by the blind, but caring for the others has begun to take its toll on her, resulting in periods of deep contemplation and a mental breakdown. As they come to rely on one another in order to survive, they eventually begin to restore a sense of normalcy to their hectic lives. Just when people start to adapt to a sightless life, the white blindness suddenly comes to an end, restoring not only vision, but also law and order. Blindness is an exploration of the human condition, of both the best and the worst sides of humanity. Saramago shows how much we depend on one another, especially in times of need, while at the same time detailing the dichotomy between the individual and society as a whole. Among current authors, he is a pioneer both in terms of subject matter—one of his most famous novels, The Stone Raft, involves the Iberian Peninsula breaking away from Europe and sailing about the Atlantic Ocean—and in terms of style. Saramago’s writing style may be a bit intimidating to people looking for an easy read. In Blindness, he avoids using proper nouns, and rarely uses periods. Instead, he prefers to string sentences together with commas, oftentimes resulting in sentences lasting a full page. One of the most difficult things to adapt to in Blindness is Saramago’s refusal to use quotation marks to signify dialogue;
when the speaker changes, the first letter of the new speaker’s dialogue is capitalized. At times I found myself frustrated by this technique, but it served to demonstrate—on a small scale— what the characters felt when their vision was stripped from them. His novel is both a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit and a prophetic vision of a world without order. While it may be a challenge to adjust to Saramago’s distinctive style, Blindness is definitely worth the effort.
