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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. On second glance, what does the Doctor's Wife notice the filthy blind lovers in the hall are doing?

2. What does each member of the sieging group carry with her?

3. How many people are living in the First Man's apartment?

4. How does the Thug's guard keep watch?

5. What happens for the first time in many days as the first ward is preparing to siege the Thugs?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Doctor's Wife do when she sees her husband in bed with the Girl with Dark Glasses?

2. Why doesn't the Doctor's Wife tell the other inmates that she can see?

3. What happens to the Old Woman with insomnia in Chapter 11?

4. Describe the state of the outside world since the blindness disease has spread to almost every citizen?

5. What is the result of the other wards having given the Thugs all their valuables at once?

6. What arrangement do the Thugs make for payment?

7. How do the Thugs keep track of their earnings?

8. What does the Doctor's Wife say to silence the Thugs when they stop by the first ward at the beginning of Chapter 12?

9. What is the Doctor's principle argument for now trying to stop his wife from going to the Thugs' ward?

10. How does the Doctor's Wife meet the Dog of Tears?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following topics to discuss in essay form:

1.) Why does the Doctor's Wife not reveal her ability to see while in quarantine? Do you consider this choice prudent or selfish? Does this choice to remain a covert observer give her more or less control over her environment?

2.) Why do you think it takes so long for the blind inmates in quarantine so long to organize themselves? Are they content being at the mercy of systems handed to them by the government and the Thugs? What Saramago saying about the weak nature of human groups?

3.) Why do you think it is so easy for the Thugs to take control of the food supply and one of the wards? Is it exclusively their superior arms? What tactics do they employ to divide and disorient their subjects in the other wards?

Essay Topic 2

The character of the Thief dominates much of the beginning of the novel, but he is the first internee to die. Choose one of the following questions about the Thief to answer in essay form:

1.) The Thief - in his last moments - privately contends that he is not dying because of any sin he has committed, but because he helped the First Man after he went blind. Do you agree with this? Defend your position, citing evidence in the novel.

2.) The Thief is an anarchist force when he enters quarantine. He quarrels regularly, fights movement to organize, and declares that at last he is equal to those around him. To what extent does he represent the antithesis of the Thugs that will arrive after his death?

Essay Topic 3

After the central characters leave quarantine, they discover a city where absence of sight has rendered private property nonexistent:

Part 1) Examine the overview of the situation as related by the anonymous man that the Doctor's Wife speaks to as she is walking to the city? What function do residences and stores serve in this new society?

Part 2) Which characters within the group cling to the hope that they will find their old home, and which give up this hope? Prior to regaining their sight, do they find a home?

Part 3) Examine the First Man's arrangement with the Writer living in his house. How has the First Man's attitude toward private property changed since the beginning of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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