Blindness by José Saramago (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 21

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

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Blindness tells the story of a group of people who, for some unknown reason, suddenly lose their sight. They are all sent to an asylum where the inmates quickly turn to violence and force to get what they want. As tensions grow and people become increasingly dehumanised, everybody wants to escape. But without knowing what caused the blindness epidemic, how can anybody stop it?

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• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
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Leseprobe

José Saramago

Portuguese writer and journalist

Born in Azinhaga, Portugal in 1922Died in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain) in 2010Notable works:The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (1991), novelThe Double (2002), novel Seeing (2004), novel

José Saramago was born in Portugal in 1922 to a humble family. At the age of 12, he was forced to drop out of school to train as a locksmith. He tried his hand at various jobs, working as a journalist for Diário de Notícias, then as a translator before beginning a career in literature. His first novel, Terra do Pecado (Land of Sin), was published in 1947, but it was not until the publication of his first translated work in 1982, Baltasar and Blimunda, that he became recognised for his work.

Saramago was a member of the Communist party and fled to the Canary Islands in 1991 when his work The Gospel According to Jesus Christ was judged as blasphemous and censored in his country. Having received honorary doctorates from numerous French universities, he then received the Camões prize in 1995; the most prestigious prize for literature in Portugal. Three years later, he won the Nobel Prize for literature. His works, which include novels, essays, poetry and plays, have been translated into numerous languages and published throughout the world.

Blindness

The decline of society through the metaphor of blindness

Genre: novelReference edition: Saramago, J. (2013) Blindness. Trans. Pontiero, G. London: Vintage Books.First edition: 1995Themes: blindness, confinement, apocalyptic world, rebellion, insanity, hope, violence, dictatorship, anarchy, dehumanisation, barbarism, survival

Blindness, originally published in Portugal in 1995, was translated into English three years later and published by Harcourt. It all begins in a cosmopolitan and crowded, yet unnamed, city. At a set of traffic lights, a car comes to a stop and the driver suddenly goes blind. This is followed by a series of similar phenomena.

The people affected by this blindness epidemic are quarantined in an asylum with deplorable living conditions in which society has become dehumanised. Despite this sombre atmosphere, there is still a ray of hope: somebody has been spared from the contagion. It is the ophthalmologist’s wife, who will guide the blind back towards civilisation.

Summary

A blindness epidemic