Seeing (novel)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Seeing (2004) by José Saramago is an allegory of political apathy." --Sholem Stein |
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Seeing is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago. It was published in Portuguese in 2004 and in English in 2006. It is a sequel to one of his most famous works, Blindness.
Plot summary
Seeing is a story set in the same country featured in Blindness and begins with a parliamentary election in which the majority of the populace casts blank ballots. The story revolves around the struggles of the government and its various members as they try to simultaneously understand and destroy the amorphous non-movement of blank-voters. Characters from Blindness appear in the second half of the novel, including 'the doctor' and 'the doctor's wife'.
Major Themes
Oppression by the Government - The populace feels bitter towards the detached government, communicating their feelings by casting blank ballots. Throughout Seeing, the government is defensive and vengeful towards the rebellious citizens characterizing its oppressive nature. The characters of the Prime Minister and the Superintendent orchestrate ways of dejecting the people through propaganda and exclusion. The government is always at odds with the people creating an environment of tension and “bad guy vs. good guy” mentality in society.
Inhumanity of Human Nature - This theme is best represented by the superintendent’s ironic, planned death. Humans are inherently destructive and malevolent towards each other, and ultimately themselves. The people acted inhumanely by rejecting the government and acting in a secretive manner. Additionally, people are persistently trying to spy on each other and figure out ways to extract the truth via methods that are cruel. The government taking a sample of 500 people in the beginning of the novel demonstrates just how merciless some people can be.
The Restructure of Society - Society constantly wants to reorganize itself and usually this reorganization results in a governmental shift and heightened tensions between the people and authority. In Seeing, a call for restructure is illustrated in the casting of blank ballots, rejecting government. Society periodically and internally alters itself. At the beginning of the book it can be inferred that no one is happy with the status quo and ultimately at the end of the book, the government has changed in such a way that the people are only temporarily satisfied and content with the government. The inhuman nature of humans results in the constant shuffling and changing of government officials and governmental structure.
Character Analysis
Prime Minister As the highest-ranking government official in the region, the Prime Minister is the most prominent character in the novel. The Prime Minister, PM, makes all government decisions regarding the revolution. The PM represents the active government officials in society who are too involved in society through government action. He displays government hypocrisy, exhibits no feelings of trust in the people, and overlooks corruption and misuse of power in government.
President As the leader of the nation, the President is the PM’s only superior. Throughout the novel, the President remains out of picture. He leaves the regions government activity to the PM. This represents how nation’s leaders are ill informed on specific events and can only be concerned with the nation as a whole. Although the President has the most power in the nation, the PM is able to handle the situations before him in any way he chooses because the President does not have the time, or the means, to closely watch him.
Superintendent The Superintendent is the head of the police. He is responsible for the investigation to find who is responsible for the revolution. He represents a particular conflict between the police and the government as he is responsible for the investigation, but the government is prohibiting the police from being active in the city. The Superintendent attempts to complete the investigation even though he is not really in control of the police anymore and through his disagreements with the Interior Minister.
Seeing Woman This character was the most important in Saramago’s previous book, Blindness. In Blindness, everyone in the city goes blind, except for her. The woman also kills two people. In this novel, she is accused of planning the revolution and is one of 7 suspects. She is targeted mainly because she did not go blind, but also because of the crimes she previously committed. She represents the fears of government. She is a physical symbol of unknown because no one knows why she did not go blind, which is threatening to government. Mainly, government fears change, which the woman could easily prompt. However, as well as fearing change, government does not believe in it all together. The second reason she is accused is because of the murders in the past. Past criminals are often the first suspects for new crimes, which is exemplified in her situation. She is murdered at the end of the novel.
