Conclusion

Link to the NPR Review: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=132292587&m=132416385


There's something I missed, because I started on the first page. I missed the epigraph, and it sums up this book wonderfully for my conclusion blog post. 

 "If you can see, look. If you can look, observe."

There is a lot to this book. I think that's what makes it AP worthy. There are several themes, complex characters, allusions, metaphors, symbolism, unique diction, and the list goes on. Some of my favorite examples are:

• Saramago's writing style: In a non-subtle way, the writing follows the intensity of the story. As the government and the people panic there are increases in run on sentences and quick words that add to the pandemonium. Here's one example on such a sentence, 
• "Two hundred people could not get into the hallway, or anything like that number, so it was not long before the door leading to the courtyard, despite being fairly wide, was completely blocked, as if obstructed by a plug, they could go neither backwards nor forwards, those who were inside, crushed and flattened, tried to protect themselves by kicking and elbowing their neighbours, who were suffocating, cries could be heard, blind children were sobbing, blind mothers were fainting, while the vast crowd that had been unable to enter pushed even harder, terrified by he bellowing of the soldiers, who could not understand why those idiots had not gone through." (110-111)
• The complexity of minor characters such as the car thief discussed in an earlier post. Especially the complexity of major characters like the doctor's wife are so raw. Her final words of the novel , "“I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see” (326), piece together an important theme, the ignorance of society.
• The symbolism, "The face of a blind man. Fear made the soldier's blood freeze, and fear drove him to aim his weapon and release a blast of gunfire at close range"( 75) here fear is personified  but also symbolizes a driving force in the loss of humanity. 

Overall, I really loved this book. I think it was very much worth reading because it was thrilling and complex. As for its literary merit, I think its AP worthy. On the AP Eng. exam this spring I can use this book for characterization questions, societal problem questions, multi-theme questions. This book covers a lot, and there is so much I didn't get into. I think I'm gonna re-read it if I have any time before we start our new book on Tuesday.