Critique Of Blindness In Jose Saramagos Blindness

Critique of Blindness Human nature is defined by emotional expression, the desire to learn, individuality, and freedom of will. It enables people to make decisions on how they will conduct their daily interactions and, therefore, dictates how society will be run. Josà © Saramago’s novel, Blindness, tells the grim tale of a society devastated by a blindness epidemic known as the â€Å"white evil.† Without their sight, people are no longer able to act in a civilized manner and become aggressive towards one another as they struggle to survive. Saramago is able to redefine human nature as he takes a rather pessimistic stance on the topic and decides to present it as no different from animalistic instinct. Within the novel, people are first branded†¦show more content†¦Saramago created an opportunity to explain what it is like to live in such a society. He states, â€Å"This must be what it means to be a ghost, being certain that life exists, because your four se nse say so, yet unable to see it. (Saramago, 242)† This indicates that the city, is no longer composed of people, but rather it is composed of beings whose only purpose is to survive. Such writing demonstrates why many readers believe that Saramago intended to reveal how human nature directly interacts with personal misfortune and social catastrophe. Towards the end of the novel, the doctor’s wife notes, â€Å"I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see. (Saramago, 326)† This highlights Saramago s political and philosophical intentions.With that being said, such intentions are developed throughout the entire novel. The story begins in the middle of rush hour, in an unknown city, when the first blind man is struck suddenly by blindness while waiting at a traffic light. Afterwards, he is rushed to the doctor’s office where he is, consequently, responsible for the spread of the  "white evil.† It was there that the first blind man infected all those around him, and, as a result, began to spread the epidemic and panic throughout the city. With a large number of people going blind at an alarming rate and with no apparent cause, public health officials decided that all the