Blindness in Literature

I will be examining the role of blindness in literature. Blindness in literature is usually figurative and not literal. Most characters that are afflicted with blindness suffer from not literal blindness where they can’t see anything but figurative blindness. Figurative blindness refers to blindness that is not literal. For example, Willie Starks in All the Kings Men is figuratively blind as he is blinded by his political ambitions. Figurative blindness is usually caused by some aspect of a character’s life that is so overwhelming and important that it blocks out everything else. Figurative blindness usually leads to the downfall of the characters who are afflicted with it. Because this figurative blindness is overwhelming and causes a character to block out everything else, it is usually very destructive. The destructive nature of figurative blindness is a direct consequence of the fact that a character afflicted with blindness can only think and “see” the overwhelming thing whatever it is. Because of this, the character will ignore all other important aspects of his life. Let’s examine the case with Angel Clare. Angel’s blindness was brought on by Tess’s revelation of her past with Alec and her child Sorrow. Her past is so devastating to Angel that he becomes blinded to her love towards him. Prior to Tess’s confession, Angel and Tess are madly in love with each other. Thinking that love is blind, Angel rejects Tess’s attempts to reveal her past before they became married. However, Tess’s confession disrupts the picture-perfect love between Angel and Tess by forming a barrier that blinds Angel from realizing Tess’s love towards him. In his blind nature, he basically abandons Tess and travels to South America to try to set up a farm for three years. After three years of hard labor, he finally decides to return home. In the meantime, these three years were unbearably painful to Tess. Facing much hardship and not being able to communicate with Angel, she is convinced by Alec that Angel has abandoned her. With Alec’s constant temptations, Tess finally succumbs and reluctantly marries Alec. It is important to understand that it was Angel’s blindness that causes this. In his absence, Tess is too prideful to ask his family for help and her letters aren’t being replied by Alec. Her hardships and lack of communication with Angel are direct causes for Tess finally marrying Alec. Angel finally realizes how much Tess has gone through in his absence because he finds out that she never asked for help from his family. Angel’s realization effectively removes the blindness that has afflicted Angel. He sets out on a desperate search for Tess. Unfortunately, he finds out that she has married Alec and is distraught after their brief but emotional conversation. After Angel leaves with a heavy heart, Tess kills Alec out of pure hatred for deceiving her. Tess and Angel happily reunite. However, the figurative blindness has already ruined the love between Tess and Angel as Tess gets captured and hanged by the townspeople.