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It’s a pretty heavy book, but a quick and easy read despite the absence of punctuation and names for characters. Saramago has created an allegory for a society that turns a blind eye to those in need—in other words, we see what we want to see. Blindness amplifies everyone’s fundamental helplessness and interdependence. Saramago's view, the truth is what we cannot bear to see. Strip away the power of our eyes, "the windows to the soul"—a metaphor used repeatedly, and what's left is little more than ravenous beasts mauling their competitors in the fight for survival. "Evil ... as everyone knows, has always been the easiest thing to do." The doctor’s wife is the only person who doesn’t go blind. She’s needed, because we need someone who can see to tell the story. When she is no longer needed at the end of the book, she goes blind. It does raise the question however of who or what she represents??