Blindness

In this chapter, the group starts to move around the city, and in doing so, readers get a better idea of what life outside of the asylum is like. As the group heads out onto the street, and the old man asks the doctor’s wife about the state of the world. She replies, “There’s no difference between inside and outside, between here and there” (242), meaning that life is as dismal in the town as it was in the asylum.

Before leaving the asylum, the group had decided to check each person’s home for supplies and lost family members. The closest one belongs to the girl, so they slowly make their way to her building. Most of the group waits on the street while the girl and doctor’s wife head to her flat. They unlock the door to find it empty, and the girl breaks into sobs because her parents are not there. The two head back downstairs to speak with the building’s only other occupant—an emaciated old woman. The girl asks about her parents, but the old woman says they were hauled away long ago. The doctor’s wife then asks the old woman how she has survived so long by herself.