Picture in class

The first photo was showing villagers pushing two people into the river. It’s like they are being kicked out of the village or punished. It seems like that are suffering and it kinda seems hat they are blind and holding on to the person in front of them. In the second photo the women is standing on top of a bunch of dead bodies hold up the French flag. It’s making it seem like she’s is in charge or victorious in the battle. In the third picture it looks like a cornfield with a path and birds. The picture isn’t really that clear as to what the artist is trying to portray, couldn’t really tell what they were trying to paint. In the fourth picture is just yellow, and brown like a hill or dirt, and a little spot of black that seems like a dog. Didn't really understand what it stood for. In the fifth photo there is a house, trees, a lake, clouds, and a horse pulled wagon in the middle of the lake. In the sixth picture it’s a long table with thirteen people and they all seem to be having a conversation in groups of three and the person in the middle is by himself. In the last picture there are four people three of them are female and one male. One of the females is in the air with the male and he has wings and blowing the clouds. Another female is shown in the middle on top of a shell on water and is naked and there is is another women that is fully dressed is facing the women or reaching for her.

Pictures discussed in class

This picture that we discussed in class seems to be blind men leading each other. They are all holding on to sticks to stay together. As soon as the first person falls the next man follows just like a domino effect. There is no sense of direction and they are just guessing with every step they take.

The second picture seems to be describing an end to the French Revolution. I take it as the queen of France is proudly holding her flag up while appearing to be superior to her troops.

The third picture seems to be birds flying away from something. They are flying off into the horizon. Then it seems to be a crop field of some sort and the bottom of the picture is land with grass and dirt. But in the middle of the picture there is a path. Maybe a path to where the birds are flying? The path cuts through the fields. I’m guessing it leads to something of meaning or worth.

The next picture seems to be an animal of some sort appearing from out of the dirt. It is looking up hill. There also seems to be someone the animal is looking at on the far right. It almost looks like Jesus. He seems to be giving a speech  and the animal is listening.

The next picture is a little home with a lake near it. There are people passing through the lake, using it as an travel route. There’s not much going on.

The next picture of Jesus and his 12 disciples are having the last supper. I see this as being the moment  when Jesus told his disciples that he was going to be crucified. There seems to be a lot of conversation going on and comforting of Jesus and I believe is his mother. There is a lot of emotions being portrayed in this picture.

The last picture seems to be someone of entitlement. Maybe an goddess or queen. She is the obvious main point of the picture. Then there seems to be a person at her aid trying to give her a blanket or dress. I don’t know what there is to get out of the person flying to her left. I don’t see how they play a role in the middle girls meaning.

image responses

image 1: there’s a blind man leading a bunch of blind men but he falls and the rest of them will also fall inevitably. a blind men cannot see therefore he cannot lead. when he falls those who follow him are also doomed to fall.

image 2: the image shows a war with the opposing parties involved being separated by a woman holding a french flag. 

image 3: this image appears to have land, a sky, and birds flying. there’s a section that looks like a path.

image 4: there’s a person sitting who appears to be curled up most likely because of sadness. he’s alone which contributes to his sadness. he seems to be in a depressive state.

image 5: there’s a house by the lake. in the lake is a carriage being pulled by horses. in the carriage there are two people. on the shore is a dog observing the carriage.

image 6: this is the last supper. the last supper is a famous picture of the last meal Jesus had with his disciples before his crucifixion. 

image 7: there’s a naked woman and on her left side is a man holding another naked woman. on her right side there’s a woman who’s fully clothed and she’s trying to cover the naked woman’s body. 

The painting shows starting from the right to left all four are grabbing them by the shoulder. I think they are all blind. The second painting shows France is holding the flag high with pride and dead bodies below the women and child. I'm thinking this was the French War. The third painting can depict differently because one can feel proud, sad, happy, or maybe lost. Because being in a field with three different path to choose from makes it hard for one person to decide and/or just loving the view of the field out he window. The fourth painting it's more difficult to understand, but I believe it's about life going down or up hill, and being by yourself. The fifth painting has a great setting, but has a bad business because they are farmers and farmers need to have there crops continuously growing in order for them to get somewhere. The sixth painting, "The Last Supper", it's more harder to understand and depict knowing that it has been seen in places, but even myself I dont know the reason. The seventh painting shows the women on the right is trying to cover up the women and the left are attracted to her beauty nature.

Art

In the first picture I’m getting a village theme from it by the way people are dressed and the scenery around him. The man in the hole is confusing I think he slipped while being carried by these men.

The second painting seems to be more war based art. You see the iconic image of woman holding a flag standing on top of dead soldiers. The depth of this war is shown by the amount of people behind her with guns, throwing in the kid as a example of how broad this war is.

The 3rd painting is a abstract twist on a simple cornfield. In this corn field there is three paths that have been created. Not knowing if this is symbolic to the piece but I get the sense of choosing a path in life with all them goin the same way just certain things different.

The 4th painting is the most abstract. From my point I see a hill with something/someone claiming it with a very calm, almost dull choice of greens and browns for the sky.

5: This is a simple form of art showing what looks like to be a park or just open space. I see a house with lake in the backyard. Someone is in the lake what seems to be a boat just floating. Giving this piece a sense of serenity.

6: This is the most known painting of Jesus at the dinner table. With a closer look you see everyone win the back very angry and are badgering at each other while Jesus, is in the middle as a source of  peace.

7: this painting seems to be portraying the appraisal for goddesses. The man carrying the woman in the corner with another woman showing off the center woman which grab the attention of the audience.

The painting

The painting shows six people who appear to be blind going down a small hill. Two of the blind men have fallen onto the dirt after tripping on some rocks. The other four seem confused holding each other to make sure they stay together.
The 2nd painting:
The 2nd painting shows a women on top of a pedís tile with her top showing the massacre while she holds a French flag surrounded by dead bodies and soldiers.
The 3rd painting:
Shows birds flying over a field with crops. Most likely wheat and the road is split 3 ways.
The 4th painting:
Illustrates a figure sitting down below a hill with the view of a bridge leading towards a castle entrance. The figure looks as if it is tired and alone.
The 5th painting:
Shows an people in a rural environment living in an old house with a lake behind it and they’re in the back with the horses giving it water while their pet dog watches from a distance.
The 6th painting:
Is a holy picture of the Christian belief of Jesus Christ  sitting on the table with everyone else is talking or admiring him yet what’s weird of the painting is that no one seems to be eating.
The 7th painting:
Shows 3 different type of women. Those who only look for lust and love. Those who wear drapes and behave on the social norm. And those who don’t care and is free willing.

Paintings Interpretations

In the first  painting, I’m interpreting that these are blind villagers trying to find their way around. I’m interpreting that they’re blind because they all have sticks in their hand. And also the first two people seem to be stumbling all on the ground. I’m assuming they recently went blind because people who have been blind awhile now their surrounding pretty well. In the second painting, it looks like a war had just taken place and the woman holding the flag as well as the people surrounding her holding guns and swords seem to be praising their win. In the third painting, I’m comprehending that it is a windy afternoon in a corn field. The dark blue sky with the hint of black and light blue and the moon and sun shows that Night is approaching and the the way the field is painted as if it is slanted gives the impression that it is windy. Also if you looking closely, it looks like a smiley face the way the two objects are aligned along with the curvature of the grass. In the fourth picture, it looks like it’s dusk or if a wind storm is happening and someone or something is trying to climb a mountain. In the fifth painting, there wide open land with a house by a lake with a person in a boat on a like. This painting is giving a very melancholic feeling. In the sixth painting, is Jesus and the 12 disciples at supper. The disciples look concerned and worried but Jesus looks calm and nonchalant. The last painting I feel like is some type of Greek mythological Queen. She’s naked and standing in a shell presented as if her body is her power. And the people around her seem to be praising. I’m interpreting  she’s a Queen of the ocean.

Response to Images

It seems as it the people are tracing each other’s movements through touching their shoulders or with sticks and in this certain scene, the first person fell down in a pond area after walking down a small hill. The second man looks distraught as he tries to hold himself up, while being wary of the individuals behind him. The first man seems to be in pain.

This is about the French Revolution, where the Queen leads her people to overthrow the oppressors who were originally in charge. She wields a French flag and an old school rifle as she steps over corpses to show her power and authority. She is the highest figure and biggest figure in the picture to show her importance and strength.

This seems to be a vivid image with numerous colors, it seems as if it’s currently day time (normally portrayed with blue skies and the sun shining in the background). And the lower part of the image seems like a corn field, with birds and a road. There is three pathways, all formed with brownish and green paint, to show dirt and grass I believe.

This image looks like a stranded boat. Although the color may be brown, I believe it may be a boat stuck in the ocean, facing large ocean wave. It could also be a car approaching a tornado that’s set up hill, indicated by the brown shades in the upper right of the figure.

This is a very detailed image of a man with a horse carriage leading his horses through the river. There is a house once the distance, which may be his destination. There is an abundance of trees and grass, which might indicate this is near a field area, or a barn house. The skies are also filled with clouds but the sun is not visible.

This image is the last supper, a fateful day for Jesus Christ, in which the first member of the table from the left, begins to plot the murder of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is eating peacefully, while unaware of the pending situation coming before him.

This is a figure which portrays a lady in a clam shell that is showing off her beauty being shrouded by another lady, who is standing in land. In the opposite side, a winged man, perhaps an angel, is carrying a woman who looks similar to the woman on the shell. This image perhaps is about beauty and angelic figurines.

Response

the image seems to show two men being attacked by a group of other men. They all seem to look like farmers and also look poor. The second image shows the aftermath of a war. The flag seems to be the flag of Hungary. Hungary seems to be the victor of the war. The third image looks like a farmland that grows wheat. It is probably fall seasons because there are birds flying so they are probably migrating. The fourth image is the corner of a road because there is a dirt path and a single rock against a wall. The fifth image looks like a flood. I didn’t say lake or pond because the water seems to close to the house. And a farmer is going through the flood as if it was a path before a flood. It also doesn’t look like there’s another way to the house. The sixth image is a gathering of a group of people but there doesn’t seem to have much food in the table. Some of the people look angry, maybe they are having an argument. The seventh image kind of looks like a man with
Many women. There’s only one man but three women and one is in his arms. The women wearing the dress looks pregnant. It also looks like the red cloth she’s throwing is to cover up the girl that’s standing.

Class Response 4/30/19

Picture #1
The picture shows a group of blind guys following each other. The blind man thats guiding them stumbles around a pond and falls. Since they’re all blind and they’re following him some of them fall as well. I believe the sub text of the image is that a blind man cannot lead another blind man.

Picture #2
Its a picture of the French Revolution and it sends a picture of glory and triumph. Although many casualties and the war are inevitable. They have achieved their goal.

Picture #3
Its a painting in a different painting style than realistic. Sort of a Van Gouh style. It depicts a corn field and a endless path with birds flying in the blue sky.

Picture #4
This picture is a painting as well and i the colors on this are very full. It consist of different shades of brown. I believe it shows a creature climbing a mountain.

Picture #5
This painting is more realistic and it depicts a house in the middle of a swamp like environment. There can be seen people in the middle of the lake with a chariot and their horse indicating that this perhaps takes place in the past.

Picture #6
This painting is also very realistic and detailed. I believe the renessaince paintor Leonardo drew this. He portrays a depiction of what the “last super” was like to him. He was inspired by the story in the bible.

Picture #7
Another realistic picture. In this image there seems to be 4 people, 3 females and a male angel. There is a woman in the middle standing on top of a shell looking majestic while the rest surround her.

Ekphrasis

 Ekphrasis is when you write in response to art. Saramago uses real-world art in his novel in several places.

On p. 123, Saramago writes of "...the blind people in the painting, walking together, falling together and dying together." This is the painting that Saramago is referring to, by Bruegel from the 16th Century:

 

And on p. 233, after the doctor's wife and the others are free from the mental institution and she leads her band of survivors, the narrators says, "...this was not liberty leading the people, the bags fortunately full, are too heavy for her to carry them aloft like a flag." This is a reference to French 19th century painter Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, commemorating the French Revolution of 1830:

On pp. 128-129, the "unknown voice" in the ward tells of the painting that he was looking at when he went blind. This painting is actually several very famous paintings. He describes "a picture of a cornfield w/ crows and cypress trees and a sun that gave the impression of having been made up of the fragments of other suns." This is probably a reference to Wheat Field with Crows by the Dutch painting Vincent Van Gogh:

Then he describes "...a drowning dog...already half-submerged, poor creature..." This is probably Spanish painter Francisco Goya's The Dog:

And then "there was a cart laden with hay, drawn by horses and crossing a stream," with "a house on the left." This is probably Hay Wain by British painting John Constable:

The "thirteen men" eating is probably Italian painter Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper:

And finally, a naked woman with fair hair, inside a conch that was floating on the sea, and masses of flowers around her" is obviously Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus:

The unknown voice describes all these paintings as being a part of the same painting. The paintings are painted by different painters, exist in different museums in different countries. What do you make about this experience in the context of the novel?

This movie is when a media stone fell from the sky and people turns violent and become zombies

Doctor's Wife

I find it interesting how Jose Saramago decided to have the doctors wife vision remain while everyone else has fallen ill to the white sickness. I think that Jose has made this decision fro two reasons. The first one is that he wanted to add a sense of mystery to his novel and have his readers wonder as to why the wife is immune this this plague. It also adds a sense of drama in certain scenes. One of them being the doctor and the wife trying to determine if she should tell everybody her secret. The second reason is for a sense of narrative. The book tells the story from the perspectives of its characters. Any events that take place are all directly experienced by them, and there is no dramatic irony taking place. Since this is the case, the reader would not be able to have a sense of setting or even interest in the book if all the characters were blind. The doctors wife serves as a tool to better tell the reader what is happening in the book.

Blidness & The Silence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ufZuqTd5c

This movie is about a world where silence is peace. This area is under attack by creatures, when silence is broken they will find you. This is not completely the same as blindness but people have to move around being completely silent, which is hard.

Still reading the book blindness to see what will happen to the blind people it seem to be getting worst.

Blindness and Black Lightning

Here's a clip from one of my favorite post-apocalyptic shows, DC Black Lightning(2018):

 I made a connection to Black Lightning, that the government is keeping the meta-humans captive in pods. Similarly in Blindness, how the government is keeping the blind internees captive in an institution.

The wards where filling of more people has more blind people were arriving while some fell to the ground the others trampled on them on the floor because they can't see.

An uproar has occurred in the facility where the blind people are being held. Chaos roamed the wards. People were getting shoved and trampled on amidst the confusion. One of the blind men feels his face and starts to think about what would happen if he were to shave. He realizes the outcome would be horrible then contemplated if his wife should do it for him. That too wouldn’t be a good idea because other people would catch on and find out his wife can see.

Group work. Isaiah Meade, Suresh Ramnandan,Gabriela

1. the ways in which society has broken down.

The blind have been placed in a facility 

Human rights are being broken

The thief tried to escape and was shot immediately. Also people trying to get food were shot

2. The ways you imagine it will break down more?

The blind will start to commit Suicide out of hopelessness 

Attempting revolution 

3. The ways things will get better (or maybe they won’t?)

Maybe a cure is found

The blindness will be contained 

4. What purpose does the doctors wife serve in this narrative? Why isn’t she blind?

She is the one eyed person in the village of the blind. She will serve as possibly the key person to be studied for a cure. She has obvious immunity.

5. What post-apocalyptic stories, if any, is this novel similar to? In what way is it different from other post-apocalyptic stories you’ve read or seen in the movies or on Tv?

It’s relatable to the holocaust for the fact that human rights are being denied and large groups of people are sent to their deaths.

Resident evil (the movies) has a character that  is immune from the zombie virus (maybe similar to the doctors wife). Eventually she finds a cure and depending on how this story (blindness) goes it can relate.

Blindness pg. 66

It has said clearly more blind people are making there way into the ward. More of the blind can affect the portions to eat given by the Officers. As the book states, what if weeks pass and none of the utilities given for them would be able to work. Nevertheless, living in a condition like this will not benefit them any shape or form.

Chapter four is very interesting the the patients are going into the mental hospital and realizes that the environment they are put in is very unclean and not hygienic. They are treated like animals like forgotten creatures that have been forgotten from civilization. Hopefully they find a cure so they can go back living a normal life on earth.

Blindness page 66-69

More and more people are beginning to be affected by the blindness and the government has resorted to lying and promising medical assistance in order to keep those people contained and under control. Protest begins to take form as the blind realize that there might not be a solution for their issue and that they might have been brought here just to die. There isn’t much the government can do at this point besides contain the infected until further notice.

Class Discussion on Pg 66-69

In this excerpt, I believe the old man is staring to feel like a caged animal. The government aren’t supplying them with any toiletries to keep themselves clean neither  are they providing them with showers. He makes a reference that the institution will become a sewer because the toilets will soon not work and let alone since they’re blind most of them are probably defecating on themselves. The old man wants his wife’s help since she’s the only one who can see but he doesn’t want to risk blowing her cover and having something terrible happened to her whether it be the other internees attacking her or the government shooting her on sight. He’s convinced the government looked them in the institution and left them to die.

It's so sick that they are treated so poorly simply because hey are unable to see ..... We know they can infect other but instead of separating them from the world how about trying to find a ligical reason behind all of this even a cure ..... It's sad to say that this is happening even this very day this book reflects on life and how the people are treated by our government maybe I am thinking about this a little deep but this was exactly how the president treated our undocumented immigrants separating the kids from their family and putting them in a home that they aren't treated so well.

Pg 66

In this segment it is no longer just a few people that blind. An increasing amount of issues are starting arise. The more people coming in the worst the situation is becoming. Many issues such as living space, food shortage and hygiene are becoming a big issue. human nature is shown to be self-serving and vile, with few but shining exceptions. Many of the minute issues that occurred between the internees in the first days come to a head in this part due to the great influx of people.

Blindness pg 66

During this section of the novel we see that even more people have become infected and that it is more than likely that people will continue to get infected. To me, its just fascinating to see what occurred after just one person being infected. Its almost like the domino effect. One person gets infected and everyone that made contact with him gets infected then everyone who came in contact with those people loose their eyesight and the cycle continues. What still surprises me is why the doctor’s wife still has her eyesight? If we assume that the disease passes on by looking at the person why is she not blind? Was this something done on purpose by the author?

Page 66

In this scene people are starting to question what is happening. There are more people continuing to come into this section where all the other people are who are affected by the blinding. Then the government decides to lay a foundation of rules for these people to follow. Which is odd because if they are being quarantined why do they need to be following rules. They are obviously being isolated and not being taken care of.

Blindness 66-69

The narrator shows the despair felt by the internees in the ward, and shows how the loss of eyesight complicates life itself but also makes people who were able to see before, feel the after effects of losing their eyes. It’s sort of poetic how the eye doctor goes blind because it will probably make the doctor himself give up hope on a cure. Because of this, it’s more likely that other people might also give up hope for a cure as well. The cure is also shown to not be a priority and the fact lies that rather than saving the blind, the government has chosen to forsake them for then betterment of the rest of society.

Page 66

What I got from these couple pages is a setting. It gives the ambiance of how the institution is set up. Even though these people are going through a blindness epidemic , they are getting treated worst than normal hospital patients. The overwhelming amount of people and little space, give the scenery of basically fighting for your own and a chaotic place to find peace while going through this issue.

Blindness and Apocalypse

As you read Blindness, I'd like you to make connections to other post-apocalyptic films, TV shows, novels, comic books, myths, video games etc. What is your favorite posts-apocalyptic story? Or, if you've never seen one or never seen one you liked, why not? Why do you thinks these stories have been with us for thousands of years? What do they speak to? (Feel free to use the link/image/video buttons above to link to internet images and/or video.)

Here's a clip from one of my favorite post-apocalyptic films, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978):

As you continue to read the novel, what do you imagine will happen? What have you been surprised by? What questions do you have?

It is interesting to see how little by little everyone suddenly starts to go blind. While im reading this it makes me think, “what if this were to happen in real life?” It would be a very scary feeling to not have any control of your vision and know that it is inevitable to go blind. As humans, it is known that out vision is the most important thing to us, we would prefer to loose a limb than loosing our vision. Im curious to see what everyone will do and how they manage to live and get by.

By far, the most interesting thing to me is how a person can go completly blind with out an explanation. We can see that when he went to the doctor nothing was wrong with his vision. The doctor claims that his eyes seem to be perfect, that was surprising because he states that he has never seen anything like it in all of his years of experience. If that were me that would scare me so much more because i would feel helpless and like there was nothing anyone could do to help me.

My creation story

     Anyone Will say the world is going fall apart but the way i see it is that one day the world  have  no  more wickness. It will be like a paradise were their will peace for once for people who remain there.no more deaths but and this maybe hard for others to see or even imagine but that's how my creation of the world is so don't panic with life anxieties one day we will have that paradise in this crazy world .

The class as being good so for still getting my story together and the feed back in the class I'll try to write the best I can

Saramago’s Way of Writing

As I’m reading Blindness, I started to think that Saramago made the book’s format with no names, no location, no dialogue, and lots of run on sentences without any context and for no reason, but now I don’t think that’s the case. I believe that the format is like that to show the disorder within his story. People are becoming blind in his story, so does it really matter? After the suspenseful laws were given, you could almost feel like the tone of the story will shift to a darker and more entropic phase.

Class discussion

The second man that goes blind becomes paranoid because people start becoming blind & he thought that he will be blind as well.

Chapter 2 pg 16-18

The author seems to foreshadow some sort of punishment for the thief. The thief’s actions are morally wrong as they seem to make him think about consequences and ways to justify himself. He goes blind and immediately becomes paranoid immediately. Being that he is stealing for a blind person makes this ironic and a exact representation of karma.

Class Discussion on Blindness pg.16-18

In this scene, we are getting to see into the thief's conscious. He’s aware that he committed an evil act and  while driving the old blind mans car he was starting to feel guilty. He began thinking about if he would get bad karma and become blind while driving just how the old man did. Or worse get into a car accident. He started thinking of a master plan on how he should drive, and to obey the traffic laws so he could avoid police. I’m interpreting that this isn’t the first crime he’s committed because he was having conversations with himself in a scenario if he were to get pulled over. The police would asking for his license then he would go back jail. With all this master planning going on, he was still shook about stealing an old mans car he started to feel dreary so he got out of the car and next thing you know he was blind as well. What I’m getting from this is that a Plague is going around, so if you become in contact with a blind person you too will become blind as well.

Ch. 2 16-19

In this segment it is clear that the one who helped the blind man was in fact the thief, and also very cautious on not being caught by th police.

Response to Chapter 2

Saramago is philosophically foreshadowing that the car thief is about to suffer some consequences, in the way he speaks about a “prevaricator” being punished. He gives the thief’s thoughts and says that he would be more remorseful if the blind man wanted him to keep him company until his wife came. The thief is also shown to have prior experience with grand theft auto, as he avoiding attracting officers and pulled into a zone with no traffic lights, without any difficulty. His easiness and calmness during such a stressful situation shows his experience, as it would most likely give some people more of a “rush” feeling. He then gets a headache, which leads to him acquiring the “white” blindness.

Blindness class response

The author wants the reader to understand that there are only specific people who turn blind which are only those who seem to do wrong such as criminals. In the segment the author writes a sense of imagery to where the character is paranoid and then turns blind after worrying about being blind.

Blindness by Jose Saramago is very interesting so far the guy to be blind is a innocent man and he was driving when the crucial epidemic happen to him. More people are getting infected and the government is notified and taking action to stop the spread of blindness. The government  is having a lock down and is taking everyone that’s blind or suspicious of being blind to a mental hospital and hold captive until a cure is found.

First Scene Saramago

In this first scene, Saramago is setting the scene basically. He goes on to describe what the thief is thinking in his head. He explains all of the thoughts that are racing through his head! He pretty much just goes on about all the horrible things that could happen and as if a switch was flipped he went blind. As if someone just snapped their fingers. He wanted to portray how fast and random the blindness can take control of you. So he sets the scene up focusing on something else and then throws a twist and has the thief become blind.

Response blindness

what’s happening during the first scene is that a second person has now gone blind. The first man that just went blind was the old man in which he was on his way home being helped by a stranger. When the stranger initially offered to help the first blind man, he had no intention of stealing his car. The idea had come to him when he dropped the blind man off at home and hurried the car thief out the door without asking for the keys back. Perhaps if the first blind man had allowed the car thief to stay, he would have been overwhelmed by his conscience and wouldn't have stolen the car. In any event, the car thief is driving around the city, nerve wracked in an attempt to avoid the police, when he decides to park the car and wait. As soon as he gets out of the car he goes blind.

In class reading

The second man to go blind is the thief. He stole the car that belonged to the first man that went blind. The second man didn’t think too much about it when he stole the car. Him stealing the car is compared to impulsively buying a lottery ticket. Now the man is worried about getting caught for stealing the car. He knows that police are near him and this scares him.

Class reading page 16-19

The “good” smaritan who offered to take the car home starts to think of stealing the car and is now getting paranoid because he doesn’t want to commit a traffic infraction because if he does police will stop him and find out the car is stolen. He starts to drive with caution and is having all these thoughts about the seriousness of the problem, he can’t seem to concentrate while driving wo he stops the car, parks and gets out. As soon as he begins to walk away from the car, he goes blind. Now he is the second victim infected with the disease.

Page 16-19

Throughout the book so far it seems only men have caught this blindness plaque through interaction through each other even though blindness isn’t contagious. The one confusing thing is the switching perspectives with no transition or quotes on phrases. I think coming from that persons view gives the book more depth and suspense.

 I have no idea why this man got blond maybe it deal with the people that stays around him the longest I mean he got blind in the same spot after stealing the mans car ..... I really don't know why it's happening this way

Blindness

It seems a little confusing on who is speaking to who, until after one is done speaking and then it's more clear. But seeing the method of José Saramago its different from Blue Angel where we know who's speaking to who, and it's not uncomfortable to read or visualize.

Starting Blindness

The first people stricken with the "white plague," the plague of blindness end up in an abandoned mental institution. As the internees go in single-file to the bathrooms, the car thief feels up the young woman in the dark glasses and she kicks him, injuring him w/ her high heels (this will not go well for him). He has already stolen the first blind man's car. He's clearly not what we would call a good man, but he is not even close to the worst man that we will see in this novel. The truth is that this "disease" or whatever it is seems to bring out the best in some people, but it also brings out the worst in others. I wonder if we can reach any conclusions about this fact? Don't we like to think that people pull together in time's of struggle? Think about the volunteers at 9/11 and first responders who sacrificed their lives. Now think about people who scam victims' families or set up fake fund-raisers. All sci-fi and post-apocalyptic stories tell us something about the world we live in now. What does this novel tell us about our current society?

Other questions:

• Why do none of the characters have names? Why does this city not have a name?
• Why do all the blind people see the color white?
• How did you react to the official announcement of the govt. at the mental institution (pp. 42-44)?
• What do you think will happen next?
• What questions do you have? 

Conference

During this weeks conference it helped me to open my eyes to the direction in which I can take my collection in! I was able to come up with more topics and details I can incorporate into this world! This will definitely help me finish my collection and see where I can get with it. The insight is going to give my story a new fresh beginning!

I have started to read blindness which i think will be very good

Blue angel opening story

I hate opening stories like this one because you never know how the story ends completely like I want know if swedson dies at the end like the movie blue angel .but we will never know until the author decides to make a closing to this book .movies and books are always completely different each other even if it's something abouth the same topic .

Swanson living alone after sherry left him and not wanting to face christmas has he thinks about all the bad things that should happen to him.

Response to Pg. 257-262

From this section that we’ve read, I’m getting the impression that Swenson regrets doing what he did with Angela because he’s all alone. His wife and daughter left him and now he’s realizing what a “self abasing slob” he is. At the same time I feel like he’s trying to look at the situation he’s in as a blessing in disguise. He feels like he could do whatever he wants now without feeling restricted. Furthermore, he notices that he’s nothing without Sherrie. He results to thinking alcohol is the solution or watching a movie of another man who was transformed into a “tragic hero.”

Response to scene

During the class reading, I’ve noticed Swanson finding all of the events a big help for him so he can read & finish his novels. But in my opinion I think he’s justifying his actions saying that Sherrie and his daughter were a distraction for him and that he never truly loved Sherrie. Because during the novel every conversation he had with her it was so dull & it was rather irritating for him to be with her. Like at the beginning of the novel when they sat down to eat dinner he didnt want to be there. So I think that he’s not hurt how Sherrie took the news but how the consequences still haven’t sinked in.

Blue angel class reading until p257-262

The book does a good job interpretating the lonely life Swenson is now living since his wife and friends have left him after finding out about his affair with Angela. Swenson distracts himself by doing things he normally doesn’t do. He attempts to cook now that Sherie is not there to cook for him anymore, he goes on a reading spree, he begins to compare himself to the characters from the stories he reads. Its Christmas time and its getting to him that he is alone so he decides to buy eggnog in order to get drunk and numb the pain.

This last chapter mainly spoke on Swenson and how what he did affected his family and made him realize that many ppl was actually disappointed .... He maybe thought this would blow off but it wasn't that simple and even after everything I still think he believed ppl where overreacting and that's plain crazy he saw his self as the victim and that even more crazy .... Its sad that his family had to deal with this as well I have no idea why this scene is important (maybe because he got to really read and see that all this time he was used , maybe because he's really a true clown) I have no idea what I do know is I think he really didn't see what he did wrong and that's a shame

Blue angel response

Swenson messed up big time. He’s lost his family and respect from basically everyone. He’s stuck finding reasons to even go about his days. Swenson wants a escape from this mess he has created and begins to think about suicide. He couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing and eventually gets up.  It’s truly unfortunate for Swenson but we knew the risk of doing such a thing with a student and how that could affect the amount of respect he has.

Page 254

 This scene is when swensons life starts to fall apart. He’s lost everything that has value to his life but still has this infatuation with student and teacher relationships. When he sees “the Blue Angel” he refuses to take it with him because he’s disgusted with himself. From the two sections you can see Swenson knows he has a problem but doesn’t seem to come to an acception with it fully, he hints at situations where he is “right” for self justification.

Blue Angel Response

The portion of the book we just read (257-262) sums up how defeated Swenson is and how defeated he feels. He’s been summoned to appear at Euston for a hearing, in which he knows will not support or defend his character. His wife left him, as his daughter did, so he’s avoiding everything besides books with tragic endings for main characters. He’s showing many emotions by remaining in this emotionless state. He’s showing his grief, hopelessness, depressiveness, and other negative feelings. He drinks and read to avoid the outside world, and he does not even try to fix things with either of his family members. In his mind, he feels as if his previous world of having a wife and a great job is all over and he’s just waiting for the day he dies, while ignoring his suicidal thoughts.

Pg 256

I think that Swensen was trying to look for the positive in everything that went wrong. I think that aftr the scandal came out to him it looked pretty stupid that he had put his entire life at risk for a person who at the end was going to ruin his life. If he thought about all of the positives he would not have to come to the realization that he ruined his own life and lost everything that was valuable to him and personally, i think that he just could not bare to handle that information at the time.

Response

In this part of the story I think Swenson is starting to lose everything he has. He loses his friends, wife, and daughter. He is also afraid to go places in fear of seeing people he knew. He tries to avoid any situation where he has to interact with another person. He beginning to go through the effects of what he did. Swenson is now alone and has no one he can confide with

Response to scene

In the scene we read, Swenson is almost in denial. He keeps on playing these scenarios in his head where everything works out the way he wants them to. He hopes Sherrie and Ruby come back home and they all live happily ever after. But then quickly reminds himself that they are never coming back and he ruined his family.

Finishing Blue Angel

There are so many rich scenes at the end of the novel. Choose one of the following  to write about:

• In the dean's office (which reminds Swenson of a high-end London brothel) where the tape is played.
• The restaurant where Swenson confesses to Sherrie.
• Watching The Blue Angel (pp. 264-266).
•  The last chapter which is a sort of courtroom scene.
• The final scene w/ the deer and the bells tolling.

The ending is what I would call an "open" ending. Things aren't neatly tied up. What do you think  happens next? Were you satisfied by the ending? Why or why not?

What final thoughts do you have about the novel?