After reading the first section of the text, pages one through thirty-six, I'm very interested on how Saramago thought of blindness as being the epidemic featured in Blindness. Sight is an aspect that is so crucial yet common to everyday life that people don't dare to question how total blindness may affect society.
The setting of the book is very similar to that of modern society, a highly civilized and controlled community. Because the characters are anonymous, lacking names and identities, Saramago encourages the reader to picture himself or herself as though he or she is a character in the text. The author illustrates a way in which modern society would deal with an unknown and mysterious disease, lacking cause and information on how to put an end to it. Throughout the book, readers are left to ask themselves: how would I react in a time of despair and turmoil?
- Sarah
Sarah, I totally agree that the lack of identities for the characters is Saramago's way of trying to get the readers to picture themselves in a similar situation. When I first started reading the book, and read about how contact was how this Blindness spread, I was afraid of going blind! Simply because I was reading it! I have also found that I keep comparing myself to each of the characters, either saying, "I would never do something like that" or "I am very similar to that character". Saramago is making this novel as personal as possible by making you feel like you're a part of the story itself.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I also think the lack of names provides us with some of the "blindness" sensation. Having no descriptions or details about the characters prevents us from developing their identities very far. Instead, they are identified by the most basic terms and we are left to understand them through this limited lens. Nonetheless, sometimes "less is more" - Saramago gives us limited information and thus we put ourselves in the shoes of these characters.
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