102 pages 3 hours read

José Saramago

Blindness

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995

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Answer Key

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Omniscient (All chapters)

2. Homer (in the Iliad) (Chapter 3)

3. The Minister of Health (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. When the stranger offers to come inside and stay with him until his wife comes home, the First Blind Man starts to worry that the man will take advantage of his helplessness and steal from him. (Chapter 1)

2. Both the Car Thief and the Doctor had a presentiment that they might go blind just before they did. (Chapter 2)

3. After going blind, the Girl With Dark Glasses needed to take a cab home from the hotel. The state would not pay her fare because prostitutes do not pay taxes on their earnings. (Chapter 3)

4. The Car Thief attacks the First Blind Man, blaming him for causing his blindness. The Doctor’s Wife leads the Doctor to the fight, and they separate the two men. (Chapter 4)

Chapters 5-7  

Reading Check

1. Congestion of channels between eye and brain (Chapter 5)

2. Food and organization (Chapter 7)

3. She forgot to wind her watch. (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1.  A guard tells the doctor only food will be provided, and he must go back inside or be shot.