BLINDNESS AS METAPHOR 盲目作為比喻

Can you imagine if physical blindness can be spreaded to every corner of the city, just like a disease? José Saramago, a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, is famous for his novel entitled “Blindness”. “Blindness” features an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness afflicting nearly everyone in an unnamed city, and the social breakdown that swiftly follows. It seems that Saramago is talking about the physical blindness in the novel, yet in fact the physical blindness acts only as a metaphor of the moral blindness. How did those “normal” people treat the blind? How can the blind survive in the social disorder and widespread panic? In contrast with the physical blindness, moral blindness, or numbness is indeed much more chilling.

有沒想過失明會仿如瘟疫般往城市每一個角落蔓延擴散？月前逝世的葡萄牙大文豪薩拉馬戈曾獲諾貝爾文學獎，以《盲目》一書最為全球讀者所熟知。這曾被改編成電影的小說所敘述的，正正是這樣的狀況。這群失去視覺的人因而被隔離圍困。他們在集中營內惶惶不可終日-不單要提防外面的「正常人」怎樣對待自己，同時要面對營內的失序。乍看來，薩拉馬戈在小說探討的是生理上的盲目病症，但蘊含用意實是指向道德上的盲目：健全的人如何對待這些忽爾失明的人？失明的人又會如何互相踐踏求存？相對視覺上的漆黑一片，我猜，道德上的麻木以及盲目更讓人心寒齒冷。