Saramago is well known for his masterful blending of myth, history, and fiction.

When compared to earlier works, however, Blindness deals with the historical element at a conspicuously lower level. Regardless, by introducing the abrupt change that takes place in the setting of his novel, Saramago immediately takes his readers to the distant past and refreshes their memories of the plague-ridden cities they are so well-acquainted with through myths and legends.

Although satire is one of Saramago's main devices, Blindness, with its highly serious themes, can hardly be categorized as a didactic novel. Unlike most didactic works, Blindness poses significantly fundamental questions for which neither characters nor readers can come up with clear-cut answers. These questions are as rudimentary as why the people in the community have to go blind at all, and what the nature of the disease which they referred to as "white blindness" was. One...