The Country of the Blind

Wells posits that in a society developed to address the needs of people with disabilities, there is still the possibility of social hierarchy. Comment on this aspect of the community society and discuss whether Wells’s assertion is correct if societies were to address the needs of all its marginalized members.

How does Wells’s parable of colonialism resonate with today’s world? Are there still modern colonies? How might this story galvanize or inspire anti-colonialist movements?

Discuss Wells’s treatment of Nunez’s character. Is he intended to be sympathetic? How do his motivations reflect or clash with the attitudes of Wells’s time?

Analyze Wells’s depiction of Nunez’s assimilation. What factors make it difficult for him? Are these manageable factors or are they inevitable to the experience of assimilation?

How does the story’s point of view facilitate your evaluation of Nunez and the community? Speculate how the story might have changed if it was told directly from the perspectives of the residents.

Nunez’s character arc is driven by a proverb. What is Wells suggesting here about the wisdom of proverbs? Does Nunez willfully misinterpret the meaning of the proverb, or is Wells critiquing the proverb’s capacity to instruct? Explain your answer.

Comment on Wells’s decision to set the story in Ecuador. Why did Wells choose to situate the story in Latin America, rather than to create a fictional valley in his native England or Europe?

The community’s legend is driven by the lost settler’s description of the valley as a secret utopia. How does this resonate with the way that contemporary tourism industries try to market destinations? Do these industries unwittingly perpetuate colonialist attitudes? Why or why not?