Blindness

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Discuss whether it is justifiable to suspend individual rights for the greater good.

• What prompted the authorities to quarantine people who were struck blind or considered contaminated? (Topic sentence)
• Discuss the pros and cons of isolating the blind and contaminated people, both for those quarantined and for those on the outside, citing passages from the book.
• Draw a conclusion as to whether authorities are ever justified in depriving a few people of their human rights in the interest of the population overall.

2. Discuss the significance of not describing any of the characters in Blindness by name.

• What is the significance of the author’s choice to omit names for all the characters? (Topic sentence)
• Discuss how the words used to refer to the characters differ from personal names and the effect those substitutions might have on the reader. Also consider the Doctor’s Wife’s opinion on the significance of names. Does the author’s withholding of names have the same effect as the characters’ withholding of names among themselves?
• Draw a conclusion as to why character names are never supplied in the book—before blindness strikes, while they are blind, or after the blindness lifts.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the narrator’s comments on what would happen if people were to consider all the consequences of their actions beforehand. Also, reflect on the narrator’s suggestion that the effects of words and actions may continue forever. What conclusions can you draw about the narrator’s opinion on whether it is possible to determine the right thing to do? Is it a futile struggle? If so, is guilt ever warranted?

2. After the group encounters the Old Woman, the Old Man With the Eyepatch asks, “Who was that witch?” The narrator then states that if the Old Man had lived as she had, he too might have lost his civilized ways. Compare the way the two characters (the Old Man and Old Woman) had been living, noting similarities and differences. Which character’s situation do you consider more conducive to “civilized” behavior, and why?