Topic > Saramago's Blindness Theme - 1081

Social constructs and lack of compassion also impact societies to some extent. Especially those who live in a fragile society experience the stigma of being considered an outsider. Belonging to a culture that is not well accepted creates the fear of being discriminated against. For example: “With a pale face, one of the soldiers who had shot, said nervously: You will not let me go back there at any cost. From one moment to the next, on this same day, as evening fell, at the time of the changing of the guard, he became one more blind person among the other blind people, what saved him was his belonging to the army" Saramago (page . 33). The soldier is in a position of power and not of fragility. Even if he experiences the risk of going blind, exaggerating the situation is a great example of those who live as outsiders. It weakens the fragility of those who are weak because it does not stabilize the situation but rather worsens it. Creating a gap between what is stable and what is fragile only allows more errors to occur. There are no signs that the soldier who simply takes orders from someone in authority over him resonates with the sufferer. This however does not give him a justifiable stance of lack of compassion towards those living in poverty