The Country of the Blind

“Then came the stupendous outbreak of Mindobamba, when it was night in Quito for seventeen days, and the water was boiling at Yaguachi and all the fish floating dying even as far as Guayaquil; everywhere along the Pacific slopes there were landslips and swift thawings and sudden floods, and one whole side of the old Arauca crest slipped and came down in thunder, and cut off the Country of the Blind for ever from the exploring feet of men.”

Wells deploys verisimilitude in this passage, mixing real and fictional locations to immerse the reader in the reality of the story. This passage also helps to build the world around the story’s setting, explaining why the titular country remains sequestered from the rest of the world. The descriptions, which reference water “boiling,” floods, and avalanches, imbue the environment with a mythical quality that supports the revelation of a secret community in the valley.

“The valley, he said, had in it all that the heart of man could desire—sweet water, pasture, an even climate, slopes of rich brown soil with tangles of a shrub that bore an excellent fruit, and on one side great hanging forests of pine that held the avalanches high.”

The lost settler depicts the country of the blind as a utopia, which fuels the legend around it. Later on in the story, Nunez’s recognition of the valley speaks to the pervasiveness of the legend and his willingness to exploit the valley’s utopic qualities as the “ruler” of the community.

“But Nunez advanced with the confident steps of a youth who enters upon life. All the old stories of the lost valley and the Country of the Blind had come back to his mind, and through his thoughts ran this old proverb, as if it were a refrain—

‘In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed Man is King.’

‘In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed Man is King.’

And very civilly he gave them greeting. He talked to them and used his eyes.”

In this passage, Wells frames Nunez’s character motivation through the use of a proverb, a vernacular saying meant to convey folk wisdom. Though proverbs are figurative in nature, Nunez takes the saying literally, believing that his sight entitles him to rule over the people.