Character's Blindness in Literature

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Recommended: Sophocles’ use of blindness in oedipus the king

In José Saramongo’s novel Blindness, he states, “I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.” He explains that people think they can see, but they are truly blind because they are blind to certain ideas or matters that are essential. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Ian McEwan’s Atonement, and Albert Camus’ The Stranger, characters’ blindness causes them to act irrationally, which often has fatal repercussions.
In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is blind to the possible consequences of discovering the truth, which leads to his irrational actions. When Oedipus was born, he was cursed with a prophecy that he would murder his father and marry his mother. He does fulfill this prophecy, albeit unknowingly. During the investigation to find the murderer of Oedipus’ father, King Laius, Tiresias, a blind prophet, accuses Oedipus of being “the murderer that [he] hunt[s]” (Sophocles 413). The prophet can see the truth about Oedipus’ life. This is ironic because the prophet is blind, whereas Oedipus can see, but is blind to the truth. Oedipus reacts to this accusation with rage, and yells that Tiresias “can’t hurt [him] or anyone else who sees the light” (Sophocles 426). Oedipus declares that he can see the light since he is not physically blind; however, the light represents the truth, which is something that he cannot see. This further displays his blindness because he does not realize how blind he truly is. His blindness causes him to act irrationally by becoming obsessed with finding the story of his birth, even though his wife, Jacosta, begs him not to. Once she discovers the truth that she is his wife and also his mother, she asks him “in the name of god,” to “call off [his] search” (Sophocles 1163). Oedipus, how...

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...quences that come with revealing the truth, Briony is blind to the consequences of her own actions, and Meursault blinded by the sun, which completely overtakes him. All three characters experience unhappy endings due to their blindness. Oedipus is banished from his kingdom, Briony ruins her relationships and must spend her whole life trying to atone, and Meursault is sentenced to the death penalty. Their tragic endings display the fatal repercussions of blindness, and the full extent to which it can impact people’s lives.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. 1942. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage
International, 1989. Print.
McEwan, Ian. Atonement. New York: Anchor Books, 2003. Print.
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at
Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1984.
Print.

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