The Burial, and more Burials

Jose Saramago keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. The car thief was dead and the blind people had to bury him, what a predicament. This chapter has caused me to foreshadow that eventually the whole city and world will go blind in time with the number of 'blind people' growing geometrically. Saramago has brought in a new perspective to the story with the internees in the other wing who are 'infected' but not blind yet. Saramago has them bring up an ethical question weather it would be ethical or not to take the 'blind' peoples' food even though the blind peoples would never know, and since they hadn't received their rations yet. As well as the question that would be is it ethical to eat the food that people died trying to get before burring the dead?

The chapter starts out with the 'blind' internees having to find a way to bury the dead car thief. They can't find anything in the facility to dig with, so the doctors wife asks the soldiers for food and a shovel. They are granted the shovel which is thrown over the fence of the facility. The wife goes to get it and acts like she is blind going out to get it, but once she reaches it with the 'guidance' of the sergeant, on all fours; she stands up and walks back to the door in a straight line, stops before the door and opens it. The soldiers are amazed at this, but the sergeant says, "The blind learn quickly how to find their way around" (Saramago 80). With the shovel in hand the internees are able to dig a shallow hole and bury the car thief. The chapter goes on with the soldiers coming with food, and the internees run to get the food and two soldiers open fire on them and killing around seven or so. The sergeant says over the loud speaker, "We were not to blame, we were not to blame" (Saramago 84) Those soldiers go blind. The non-blind internees debate weather to take the food, they get scared away. The 'blind' peoples come and take the corpses and food. They decide to eat first. The doctors wife hands out food and notices that some get food twice but decides it wise not to say anything, how could she know. Then the 'blind' men decide to bury the dead according to each ward, there were four from the doctors ward. They buried the men in the middle of the night; since after all it made no difference all they saw was white. The men from the other ward decide to sleep and bury their dead in the morning. The chapter ends with the doctor going to the bathroom but not having any toilet paper. His wife cleans him up, but the facility is starting to stink and be disgusting. And finally someone says in response to groaning and grunts, "Pigs, there like pigs" (Saramago 93).