Analysis Of Blindness By Jose Saramago

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 by the government. Hygiene, living conditions, and morale degrade horrifically in a very short period, similar to the conditions in the outside society. As circumstances worsen inside the asylum, the inmates began to fight each other and eventually burn up the asylum. Due to the asylum’s destruction, the inmates are able to escape and join the other helpless blind people in the city, who wander and fight one another for survival. The second part of the novel focuses on the seven characters, trying to make their way in a completely blind city, where all humanity has descended into animalistic chaos. Only through the help of the one woman, who did not lost her sight, the seven characters are able to hold on to some shred of humanity and recognize what it is to be human.

The content, structure, and theme of the novel make it a very interesting, meaningful work of art, one that is memorable and enjoyable.

The intense details of the blindness epidemic presented in the story make the novel a very interesting read that effectively evokes reality. Many of us have imagined the possible destruction of the world by some sort of epidemic, whether it is a zombie apocalypse or breakout of a deadly virus. However, we can only image the changes that would...

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...sense. For example due to the “white sickness” the complete infrastructure of the society fell apart and everything is completely altered. People are unable to interact with one another as they did before which makes things much worse. Instead of trying to organize a way to distribute food like actual human being, they start killing each other for any bit of food that they can find, almost as if they are animals. Through the novel Saramango portrays how delicate our society is and how quickly turmoil’s can set in with any change in our society. However the counter balance to this is the idea that even though change can destroy our society, there is still hope for humanity. There were many interpretation and themes in the novel from spiritual blindness to humans having an animalistic nature, which is why I found the novel to be a very interesting and memorable read.