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Without your eyes, how do you think your life would be?
We hope that from this analysis of "The Country of the Blind" that you were able to realize the significance of sight whether it's literal or figurative. Hopefully you were able to see that if one cannot see, truth and knowledge are absent and that ignorance triumphs.
Fine!
Unsure
Very difficult...
How about living with someone who is blind?
Great!
Yikes...
Difficult
In “The Country of the Blind,” H.G. Wells seeks to enlighten the readers that the eyes, which are symbolic for truth and knowledge, is something that is crucial to man. Without the gift of sight, humankind will be at a loss and will suffer from ignorance.
LINA “And they would believe and understand nothing whatever he told them, a thing quite outside his expectation.” (Paragraph 67, Page 767)
HYUNBIN: “He spoke of the beauties of sight, of watching the mountains, of the sky and the sunrise, and they heard him with amused incredulity that presently became condemnatory. They told him there were indeed no mountains at all, but that the end of the rocks where the llamas grazed was indeed the end of the world”
Irony: An example of irony in this story is that the sighted stumbles and the blinds lead. This happens in numerous occasions. For example, when the blind men first meet Nunez, they examine him and make him uncomfortable by feeling him. When they are determined to take his hand and lead him away, Nunez refuses and by pulling away stumbles against a pail. The men scoff and ironically, they say " His senses are still imperfect," and lead him away. (Page 766)
Another instance when the blind men take the lead is when a blind man is determined to perform a surgery on Nunez. Ironically, a blind man wants to remove the eyes of the a man who can see without seeing. " 'And I think I may say with reasonable certainty that, in order to cure him completely, all that we need do is a simple and easy surgical operation- namely, to remove these irritant bodies.' " (Page 776)
The use of irony very clearly emphasizes that without sight man seems to be lost because the blind men are attempting to do the very difficult.
ALEX “ Our fathers have told us men may be made by the forces of Nature.” “It is the warmth of things and moisture, and rottenness.”
ERIN: “" 'And I think I may say with reasonable certainty that, in order to cure him completely, all that we need do is a simple and easy surgical operation- namely, to remove these irritant bodies.' " (Page 776)
How does the narrator characterize the author?
The narrative is a reflection of H.G. Wells in many ways. H.G. Wells is known as the “Father of Science Fiction” and we can see this aspect of him embedded on numerous occasions in this story. The story itself has to do with blind men. His use of a defect in the eyes deal with the physiology as well as anatomy of the body. Because it presents a hypothetical situation based on major social changes this is a reflection of science fiction.
Who are the main characters and what is their relationship?
Nunez is the protagonist who believes that the blind men of the country of the blind are inferior to him. As the time flies, he learns that his gift of sight sets him apart from the villagers. This leads to antagonism towards him and the villagers believe that it is him who is the odd one.
Medina is Nunez's to-be wife, and youngest daughter of Yacob. In order for the marriage to be recognized however, Nunez must remove his eyes. She believes that his eyes are afflicted with a disease that is affecting him and his brain.
Old Yacob is the father of Medina. He does not approve of Nunez and dearly wants his eyes removed.
Exposition
Situation/Climate: Never rains or snows in the valley; in the mountains: snowy and cold. Typical mountain weather.
Setting: Ecuador Andes. The land itself is imaginary though.
Characters: Nunez, Yacob, Medina-Sarote
Conflict
Focus: What stands out and why?
The ignorance and the amount of stupidity the villagers show throughout the story really stands out. Their lack of knowledge is unbelievable and due to the fact that they are blind, they cannot see the world for themselves. They are so far from the truth. The whole village does not recognize that they are isolated and that there is a greater world outside of their village.
The conflict in the story is between Nunez (protagonist) and the blind men (antagonists). We can see throughout the novel how Nunez tries again and again to prove to the men that he is not crazy. This is an example of Man vs. Society. Nunez also suffers from Man vs. Man conflict as battles with himself constantly.
Rising Action
Nunez is on an expedition with other men when he slips and falls over a mountain. When he wakes up from his unconsciousness, he discovers a village and soon finds out that this isolated village is the rumored "Country of the Blind". Believing that the people are ignorant and that he can subdue them, he becomes obsessed with the idea that he can be king of the country.He talks in the open about sight and describes how it is like to see. This causes the people to believe that he is not in his right sense of mind.
Climax
The climax is when Nunez picks up a spade and runs to the slopes of the barrier of mountains. He raises the spade to threaten the citizens of the village, but realizes he can not strike a man down, so he flees. He screams at them to stay away from him and runs away, taking refuge in the mountains.
Resolution
Falling Action
Nunez's rebellion is short lived. He freezes and starves and crawls back to the Country of the Blind and begs for shelter and food. The blind takes him in and he becomes a citizen. Later on, he falls in love with Medina.
Nunez grows fond of Medina but the only way he can marry her is to have his eyes surgically removed. Under the pretense that he agrees to the surgery he leaves the Country of the Blind. In doing so, he leaves his lover and escapes. This shows that for Nunez his sight was most important.