There are many different fictional novels that I have read; however, one that is the most memorable is Blindness by Jose Saramago. The novel tells a story about a spontaneous, unexplainable epidemic of blindness that occurs in an unnamed city. The first part of the novel follows the experiences and misfortunes of the seven main characters, the first humans affected by the blinding disease. Then they are put into a filthy, overcrowded asylum where they and other blind people have been quarantined
these prize-winning authors. What McCarthy and Saramago are really trying to imply is that if present-day society does not maintain its balance, the most vicious and savage motivations can emerge from even the best of us. Works Cited “Blindness” Kirkus, 2010. Web. 26 May 2013. “The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. “The Road” Kirkus, 2010. Web. 26 May 2013. McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. London: Picador, 2006. Print. Saramago, Jose. Blindness. Great Britain: Harcourt Publishers
In blindness by Saramago the doctors wife took the role of the leader. As the doctors wife takes on the role of the leader she is often questioned by her husband. When the eye doctor feels the willpower to have a say he decides it is his duty to alleviate the situation. “The doctor asked his wife, Guide me to the main door, Why, I 'm going to tell them that there is someone here with a serious infection and that we have no medicines,” Saramago, (page 25). The doctor felt as if it was his duty to
When defining the word blindness, it can be interpreted in various ways. Either it can be explained as sightless, or it can be carefully deciphered as having a more complex in-depth analysis. In the novel Blindness, Jose Saramago depicts and demonstrates how in an instant your right to see can be taken in an instant. However, in this novel, blindness is metaphorically related to ‘seeing’ the truth beyond our own bias opinions. Saramago’s novel clearly illustrates themes that describe the importance
go away is change. Change is a good thing because human beings are always evolving. If mankind stayed the same, humans could never mature or grow as people. Change is not always easy, in fact, change can be hard. In the novel Blindness by Jose Saramago, the doctor's wife undergoes change, and evolves from a timid follower to a courageous leader throughout four defining moments: when the doctor's wife lies about being blind to be with her husband, when she volunteers to go with other women to 'pay
mingle realistic portrayals of ordinary events and characters with elements of fantasy and myth, creating a rich, frequently disquieting world that is at once familiar and dreamlike.¡¨ „h Magic realists usually spawn from South American cultures. „h Saramago chooses to turn blindness, a common disability, into an airborne disease and has an entire country split away from Europe. Only a magic realist could create such fantastical stories. Connections „h Before the entire society goes blind, people blame
"Look here, blind man, let me tell you something, either the two of you get back to where you came from, or you'll be shot, Let's go, said the wife, there's nothing to be done, they're not to blame, they're terrified and are only obeying orders..." (Saramago 63) This scene involves the blind in the institution, specifically the doctor and his wife that came to ask a guard for any antibiotics for a wounded man. This and other scenes throughout the novel shows the panic and fear from society and the government
Women are strong. Women adapt. Women will do anything to survive. These three statements are proven in Jose Saramago’s novel, Blindness. He creates beautifully dynamic female characters that often outweigh the importance of the other male leads. These assertions give Blindness a feminist touch. Saramago’s story follows the epidemic of blindness from the beginning. This allows him to show all the different emotions of each character; documenting how those emotions develop. The first female, the wife
At the beginning of Book Seven, in an attempt to better describe the education of the philosopher Socrates begins to set up an analogy with an ascent and descent into “the cave”. In Socrates’ cave analogy there was a group of people who were from childhood held in a dimly lit underground cave. The people were kept there in bonds that were designed to allow them to only what was in front of them by depriving them of the ability to turn their heads around. Also present in Socrates’ cave was a certain
We’re all trapped in a cave, being forced to see what is in front of us, and we believe it’s real, but it isn’t. We’re then forced out of our ‘cave’ and told that everything we know is a lie. We have to learn what is true, and what is an illusion. Then, we go back to tell the others. But we aren’t welcomed, instead, we’re persecuted. We are blind, immoral, wrong, harlots and witches. We see the world differently, and we want to share that with others, but we can’t, in fear of our death. That is Plato’s
Carvers Cathedral Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” and Carver’s Cathedral provide insight into parallel words. The protagonists in each story are trapped in a world of ignorance because each is comfortable in the dark, and fearful of what knowledge a light might bring. They are reluctant to venture into unfamiliar territory. Fortunately the narrator in the Cathedral is forced by circumstances to take a risk. This risk leads him into new world of insight and understanding. The narrator in “The Cathedral”
The story of Blindness by José Saramago signifies ignorance that can form in human communities and its harmful effects. This ignorance exhibits itself throughout the story in the fragility of societal organization, such as through the government’s attempt to quarantine the blindness, only to have the entire city succumb to the disease. This shows that the organizations in charge demonstrate ignorance by acting without knowing the full implications of a crisis. Saramago also raises questions regarding
xplore what defines Ethics and moral values, but yet the explanations, similar to most philosophy, lacks proof. Be that so, even a hypothetical situation such a blindness epidemic could lead people to cross the thin line between right and wrong. Saramago used blindness as an excuse for people to behave immorally, yet again, the doctor’s wife had vision throughout the entire storyline and still proved unethical choices. The idea of taking morally wrong decisions because no one is watching has been
Dystopian fiction is a type of fiction that is often described as a “nightmare” world, where society is mainly considered by domination and cruelty. In the novel “Blindness”, written by Joe Saramago and the movie “Elysium” directed by Neill Blomkamp, there were important and common characteristics that they both demonstrated of the dystopian societies. Both protagonist in the movie and novel show many similarities and as well as differences. In both the novel and the movie, the citizens live in a
"conscience with teeth to bite" (18). This quality of man is the result of how humans sometimes favor short-term luxuries over long term consequences. This can be related to the car thief of the blind man near the beginning of the novel. So evidently, Saramago uses greed for fuel of ignorance to corrupt reason in this novel, and diagnoses the "sensual appetite" (171) of humans as a natural trait. The desperation of some people described of some people described in this novel such as the thieves, or the
and killing Claudius. Throughout the play many characters are killed, including the tragic deaths of Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet. The play ends with the prince of Norway taking the throne, giving hope to the future of Denmark. Blindness by José Saramago is also a tragedy. An epidemic created by an unknown cause, called the “white sickness”, sweeps the world. At first the government sends people into quarantine, where fights for resources quickly arises. The wife of the man who first went blind is
Blindness Blindness can be so much more than the state of being unable to see (Dictionary.com). Both the 2008 movie Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles and based on a novel by José Saramago, and the short story The Country of the Blind written by H. G. Wells in 1904, put blindness at the center of the plot. What can blindness mean in our society? And what can blindness mean regarding my future profession in design? In the movie Blindness, to be blind leads to losing all that’s civilized; in
speech and slow of tongue, but is able to understand Dee’s underlying motives. In Alice Walker’s short story, Maggie is a young girl whom Dee is trying to take advantage of and undermine to get what she wants from the family. In the wise words of Jose Saramago: “If I'm sincere today, what does it matter if I regret it tomorrow?”
's behaviors change when they are filled with darkness, when they can 't do anything for themselves, and when violence erupts. They start to forget who they are and lose their humanity. They are no longer human, but animals. In "Blindness," Jose Saramago demonstrates how his characters that lack vision act like animals by being brutal, disheveled, and absurd. Instead of coming together and help each other, his characters are hostile and vile towards each other. Everything changes when there
"An Unnecessary Woman" is an allegory about how notions of beauty and civilization can endure in a world that periodically descends into barbarism and how women can persevere in a society that never ceases to devalue them in both war and peace. Aaliya is devoted to Beirut, its gossip and turmoil. She makes the reader want to love her city, too, even while relating what it was like to live through years of fear and violence. “Beirut,” she says, “is the Elizabeth Taylor of cities: insane, beautiful