Saramago's vision brings transparency to the nature of man with modern allegory

"Blindness," a novel written by Portuguese noble laureate Jose Saramago, is a brilliant and compelling portrayal of the dark chaos and greed both within and outside of society.

The story begins as an anonymous city is inexplicably stricken with an epidemic of "white blindness".

In an attempt to contain the ailment, the government orders the city's blind citizens quarantined within an empty mental hospital, abandoning them to their fear and confusion.

Among the hospital's inhabitants, one woman secretly retains her power of sight, and through her eyes we watch as the previous social order rapidly deteriorates and a brutal, new hierarchy emerges.

"Blindness" presents a familiar allegory, in which a myopic, self-serving, and cruel humanity is exposed once the quelling habits of social convention are stripped away. It is reminiscent of truths explored in Golding's "Lord of the Flies", Camus' "The Plague", or more recently, in McCarthy's "The Road."

"Blindness" is unique because of the strength of its metaphor: sight as awareness, combined with Saramago's unusual literary style. The reader's experience of disorientation and anxiety is augmented by the author's signature lack of traditional punctuation, lengthy run-on sentences, and Saramago's refusal to refer to any characters by name.

The protagonist, known only as "the doctor's wife," is alone in watching events unfold as the powerful few control limited resources in order to systematically exploit the vulnerability and desperation of the (seemingly) powerless.

It is not a stretch to think that Saramago, well known for his commitment to leftist politics, may mean to critique an indifferent capitalistic system, as well as the futility in identifying a person's character or significance with their social station.

In "Blindness," Saramago challenges his readers to bear witness to the extremes and capabilities within our own nature, and to be guided by conviction, compassion, and awareness.