So much of what has been discussed throughout this semester can be linked back to Blindness. Hotel Rwanda and the world not doing anything is a huge link. The idea of justice, and what is justice is brought up when the doctor’s wife kills the rouges. Government and the best way to rule is seeing both while in the asylum, then later out on the streets. People attempt to organize themselves any way possible. The rouges rule by force, the doctor’s wife rules by the sheer fact that she can see. The ideas of nature can be seeing with survival of the fittest. Those who are smart enough to know how to survive are capable of it. Money has little value for the blind. Food has become the new form of wealth. Even the mind can be linked. We read about people being blind about what they do not know and not knowing the truth.

For me, this is one the most moving novels I have ever read. It has had a great impact on me. I read it last semester for a literature class, and now having read for a second time, I have found it to be even better. Saramago has written a novel so extraordinary, about something so important. The overall theme is blindness. Society is blind to the problems of others. Saramago is trying to say that this must change. We can not sit year and watch the horrors of the world. Something must be done about it. The novel touches on so many issues. Racism and its consequences can be seen when the blind are separated from the unblind. The unblind were afraid of the blind, so the separated themselves form the blind. This reminds of the Jim Crowe laws of the south and the idea of separate, but equal. The army tried to give food for both, but it ended up not working. The next issue Saramago brings up is famine. It became obvious early on that food is going to become a major issue. Saramago is linking this to third world countries were thousands of people are dieing because there is not enough food to eat. Saramago then goes on to talk about gender inequality. He shows how women are treated like mere objects, good for very little in this world. While all three of these issues are not extremely prevalent here in the U.S., they still exist. I think, however, that nations like the U.S. are the ones who are blind. We are the ones who have the power to do something, yet choose to sit by and do nothing. We just let this problems keep happening. Occasionally a story will appear in the news in-between the Hollywood scandals and the sports about something horrible happening, but for the most part, we are blind to the problems of the world.

I just read this essay by M. Tomasky and thought it tied to what we are reading. Essentially he wonders if "citizens should be called upon to look beyond their own self-interest and work for a greater common interest" and are ready for a return to that philosophy in politics.

“we were already blind the moment we turned blind, fear struck us blind, fear will keep us blind.” (129). The blind are treated with fear. Those who have yet to go blind are afraid of those who are blind. How much power does this fear have? I am reminded of Machiavelli who thought that one could rule by fear. In fact, Machiavelli preferred fear over love. Fear has really come to have great power over the blind and the nonblind. Those people who still have their sight are afraid of even going near the blind. Look at the soldiers; they shoot when ever they see a blind person getting to close. After the thief was shot, the soldiers sprayed they area where his blood was with ammonia to disinfect it. A fear has taken hold of these soldiers. Ordinarily one would not consider shooting at innocent civilians, yet these soldiers have become so afraid of the blind that they will shoot at anything. Those internees on the none blind side of the hospital are equally afraid of the blind. The minute one of them becomes blind, they are quickly ordered to go to the other side of the hospital. Fear has taken such a hold of them. The blind are afraid of what will happen to them if they get to close to a nonblind person. Fear is quickly becoming the dominate power in the hospital. Will this lead to downfall? (because I have read this novel before I know the answer). Will the power of fear cause order and peace or will chaos erupt? Is Machiavelli right or wrong when he says it is better to be feared over being loved? I think the doctor’s wife is a perfect counter to Machiavelli. She is not feared by anyone, in fact, many of the blind have come to respect her. With this respect, she is able to control the group. It is mentioned how clean and organized the first ward is. Could this have happened if the person in charge was in charge through fear? I don’t think so. Fearfulness of a leader is only good for so long, but eventually people will get bolder and bolder and the power of fear will vanish.

As I read this novel, I wonder what it would be like to go through this experience. It would clearly not be a pleasant one. The constant uncertainty would be difficult. Not knowing were you are and having to continuously depend on others. It would become so difficult. Another thought that popped into my head is do the blind dream? If they cannot see while they are awake, do they not see while they are asleep? Are their dreams then only heard, but not seen? Also, would it not be tough to fall asleep if all you see when you close your eyes is whiteness? Just some random questions that happen to pop into my head while I was reading.

Mooney's visit. My overall reaction was interesting, but disapointing. I would imagine the main reason for the cursory and otherwise thin on substance presentation is that he wanted to introduce the book and get people to buy the book where, as every review I have read, he goes into great detail about this war on science. Essentially it was a speech for the true believers and those "in the know" which seems to be a wasted opportunity to truly educate people on these issues.

Behind me a couple of young guys would comment "I don't get it" after every joke. And I imagine much of the audience who was not scietifically or politically astute to be parroting the same idea. Evidence in the presentation was lacking, which is a shame because many, myself included, wanted to hear the case.

The timing by Darksyde at Dailkos is impeccable -- he highlights a few things that I thought Mooney would explore.

Tristero has this and an optimistic assessement of what it might mean for the evolution "debate".

Here are a few reactions/responses to Mooney's book.

In Class we spent some time talking about dreams. I would like to further elaborate on this idea. Dreams are thought to occur in REM sleep, but the exact cause and length of dreams is unknown. So often people we talk about dreams and try to interpret them.

Dreams have played a part in ever culture. In ancient times, dreams were thought of to be omens about the future. People try to interpret dreams. But I question the accuracy of these interpretations. Just type in ‘interpreting of dreams’ and thousands of websites come up. For the fun of it I decided to find out what a tree meant according to these websites. Here is what I found:

Trees To see lush green trees in your dream, symbolizes new hopes, growth and desires. It also implies strength and stability. You are concentrating on your own self-development and individuation.
To dream that you are climbing a tree, signifies that you will achieve your career goals and reach those high places in society. The degree of difficulty to which you climb the tree will measure the speed of your achievement of these goals
To dream that you cut down a tree, signifies that you are wasting your energy, time, and money on foolish pursuits.
To see a falling tree in your dream, indicates that you are off balance and out of sync. You are off track and headed in the wrong direction. **View Dream Bank: "Scissors In The Forest"
(http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/searchcsv.pl?search=tree&method=exact&header=symbol)

Dream Symbols - Tree, Trees, Forest Trees symbolize life and the soul. Some change with the seasons and others stand up to harsh conditions. The meaning of trees in your dream depends on a variety of factors.
(http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/6366.asp)

I find it interesting that one website goes in-depth into the meaning of trees in dreams and the other website says much less. So what does a tree symbolize in a dream? To me, it all depends on the dream. Only you can interpret your own dream. But if we are interpreting dreams, what are we interpreting them for? Do dreams tell us about the future, the past, the present, are deepest feelings, or are they just entertainment? I think dreams are a combination about revealing our true feeling and entertainment. I don’t think dreams really predict the future. I am also a little skeptical about being able to control ones dreams. Dreams are suppose to occur in such deep stages of sleep. I would think that controlling ones dream would be tough for the sure fact of how deep state of sleep one is in. Dreams have always played a part in society and until more is known about them, they will continue to play an important part.