Analysis of “The Country of the Blind”

Nunez's Character

Protagonists can sometimes represent the best and worst of human characteristics. In “The Country of the Blind” Nunez emerges as H.G. Wells’ protagonist and the arc he experiences makes his story a pertinent one for all those in the West. Nunez's increasingly cloudy rationalism is indicative of the waning values of the Enlightenment. This has significant implications for those that he encounters in the titular place as well as for himself. Nunez represents the bold, somewhat narrow-minded self-assured patriarchal authority of the Western world and, yet, Wells also fashions him to grow through some form of self-awareness.

When readers first encounter Nunez, he is barely described. This lack of description allows for him to take on the character of an 'everyman' in readers' imaginations. Hailing from Bogota, the capital of Colombia, effects Nunez's character in a few ways. Of course, his ability to see allows him to report to the blind population that he encounters about the world which they have been missing. Even more than this, however, Nunez is a symptom of that larger society about which the locals of the Country know nothing. Thus, he appears to them brash and wild. His insistence on his ability to see, likewise, makes him seem to them as an individual who has a mental affliction. 

Nunez's supposed insanity resulting from his ability to see demonstrates for readers the power of belief and, more than this, the power to believe. In Western traditions, 'seeing is believing' yet for the people that Nunez encounters, the operative verb in this adage is without meaning. One villager reports that Nunez “talks unmeaning words” (Wells, 1904) when he discussing seeing. As such, his innate physical ability appears to the villagers as a farcical impossibility. In this same way, Nunez's rationalism is first called into question for readers. Rather than appearing as a knowledgeable individual among the ignorant, Wells leads his readers to a single important question: what is the difference between believing and seeing? In terms of rational thinking first witnessed by the scientific Enlightenment of the sixteenth century, 

The cold rationalism that Nunez relies upon is unfamiliar to the villagers and, in time, this makes the character unfamiliar to himself. Instead of becoming more assured about his own abilities, Nunez instead realizes how his expectations about how daily life should operate (waking and working during the day, for instance) are largely predicated on his own judgments and preconceptions. After unsuccessfully deploying a number of clever tactics in order to convince the villagers of the benefits of sight, Nunez eventually becomes dejected at the thought. Add to this the presence of Medina-Saroté and Nunez's stark rational view is seriously challenged. Rather than adhering only to the rational human traits that he has exhibited throughout the story, the potential for love seems to cloud Nunez's judgment. Or, to think of this another way: Nunez's judgment is first tested by the love that he accepts.

In this way, Nunez's bare-bones rationalism is tested and his most brazen human qualities are brought to the fore. While readers are likely to side with Nunez's decision to leave the village, for instance, it should be noted that his decision against personal disfigurement likely came at the price of a more certain version of happiness. In this way, the unprovable testimonies of the story's protagonist are “pit” (Wells, 1904) against the seemingly more naive claims of the villagers. Believing that the villagers are outmoded in their beliefs, Nunez seeks to return to his home of Bogota. In terms of human characteristics, while Nunez's narrow-minded self-assuredness is challenged in Wells’ story, the rationalism he clings to is only debatably virtuous. 

“Failure to accept an outsider deprives society of possible benefits”

When outsiders are cast aside and deprived a voice, societies lose one possible resource with which they can grow. Growth is not only essential to the development of society, but it is also intrinsic to its basic formation. With respect to the quote, Wells’ story proves its point as well as its inverse. Not only is Nunez 'othered' by the actions of the villagers, he similarly casts the villagers in the same light. When individuals allow their preconceptions to negatively influence their judgment, it is clear that the effects for both sides are potentially detrimental. 

Nunez is immediately cast as an outsider in the eyes of the villagers and in the hands of the author. By fashioning his protagonist as an everyman, the most obvious qualities of his appearance are spared so that readers can more thoroughly imagine the limits of the world that Wells has manifested for them. In this same way, Nunez is treated as another by the villagers first by way of his perception. This is an essential gesture on Wells’ behalf. When Nunez first gestures to the villagers to greet them, they do not return his gesticulation. At this point, the main character utters to himself, “[t]hese fools must be blind” (Wells, 1904). The structure of this claim should bring a particular awareness upon readers of Wells. Before even interacting with them, Nunez has deemed the individuals that comprise the peaceful territory 'fools' and thereby he imposes his own standards of social expectation upon them in advance.

By labeling the villagers as fools outright, Nunez essentially distances himself from the practical goings-on of the townspeople as much as they distance themselves from him. Rather than accepting their different way of life as essential to their own livelihood, Nunez instead believes that he can become a king among what he considers outsiders. In this sense, the villagers are 'outside' of the influences of Christianized cities like Bogota. Their beliefs, in Nunez's view, are misinformed and maladaptive. In terms of the latter, however, it is quickly realized by Nunez and audience alike that the behaviors which each expects (Nunez and the villagers) are conditioned by their own societies.

Societies prefigure their own biases and reinforce them through social interaction. Nunez thus is as much a product of the relatively urbane life he had lived prior to venturing to the land of the blind as the villagers are a product of their own disability. For each, their inability to recognize the beneficial traits of the other limit growth. Though Nunez idealistically believes that he should be king of the blind, this precept is the very thing that prevents his acceptance. Likewise, the villagers' unwillingness to imagine an ability that they cannot grasp within their nuanced logic prevents their betterment. Wells, however, suggests that this motif has been repeated, as when the narrator posits: “[The villagers] forgot many things; they devised many things” (Wells, 1904). Forgetting becomes a means by which individuals shield themselves from inconvenient truths. 

Nunez thus seeks to forget the valley at the story's close and thus reassert his own self-worth. Though there was, perhaps from an anthropological standpoint, much to be learned from the meticulous practices of the villagers, Nunez instead only knew to expect the ever-limiting view of himself that those individuals imposed on him. Similarly, by casting aside a sighted person, the villagers bankrupted themselves from real knowledge in favor of myth. (That the sky was made of rock, for example.) By asking him to relinquish his eyesight, the villagers forced Nunez to leave on his own and thus, sacrificed the ability to know their environment and world more completely. 

False Assumptions

False assumptions can cloud judgment and prevent opportunities from ever being realized. This is the central issue that plagues Nunez throughout Wells’ story. There are barriers that the character faces which are, for the most part, entirely of his own construction. False assumptions thus take the form of the preconceptions with which Nunez first encountered the villagers. Nunez's belief that he should be the king of the blind seriously limits his inclusion into the group. Even more than this, however, assumptions like these prevented the group from being able to imagine or even tolerate the claims that Nunez makes throughout “The Country of the Blind”.

False assumptions are typically mired in outdated beliefs. When Nunez first encounters the village, he remembers hearing tales about it from his youth. As a mountaineer, the protagonist of Wells’ story is far from financially stable. In fact, his employment on the expedition during which he became stranded was a tenuous, short-term position. When he recalls an adage from earlier in life, that “In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King,” (Wells, 1904) this belief limits his own inclusion into the group. Believing he is exceptional actually makes Nunez an outsider by his own design. 

Nunez's belief that the villagers need to be ruled by a sighted person prove that he is unequipped to rule them or even participate in normal society. After having adapted to the disability that came to eventually affect all of the members of the village, there is no need for sight. Even more than this, claims about sight are entirely lost on members of the group. Thus, when Nunez makes claims about his special ability, he actually puts himself in an even more tenuous position than that of his previous mountain-venturing form of employ. All of his attempts to prove to the villagers that he can be more useful than their most adept blind citizens actually make him appear to be even more clueless. 

His eventual departure is something of an inevitability when considering Nunez's faulty assumptions. Important to note, all of Nunez's beliefs about the way in which society should function are predicated on his own experiences within society and culture. As such, there are few ways for him to genuinely relate to the blind villagers. Even his strong feelings for Medina-Saroté are based on his pre-existing ideas, as when Wells describes her as “a girl, with eyelids less red and sunken than the others” (1904). Thus, even his expectations of beauty after having spent time among the locals are unaffected by their own values. In the village, eyelashes are considered a malignancy. Even by the end of the story, however, Nunez fails to acknowledge the veracity of their claims within their own society. 

Nunez's false assumptions prevent his ability to 'see' the villagers for their most beneficial traits. In the same way, the villagers' preconceptions fail to adequately take into account the claims of an outsider. Whereas Nunez's assistance could greatly benefit the practices of the culture he faces in “The Country of the Blind” this much is never fully accounted for. Instead, the villagers seek to blind Nunez as well through surgery and thus prevent change from occurring. This decision limits the opportunities for the villagers as well as Nunez. 

Insiders and Outsiders

Individuals within any society risk becoming too greatly influenced by the precepts of that society. In “The Country of the Blind” this is reflected in the practices of both the protagonist and those with whom he interacts. Today, there are significant implications for the kind of exclusion that Wells’ story depicts. Most recently, the travel ban executive order issued by Donald Trump underscores the perils of establishing an inclusionary/exclusionary system of insiders and outsiders. As has been witnessed in the weeks following the executive order, positing individuals as outsiders is sometimes easier than one might think. With respect to the kind of indifferent negativity that is exhibited throughout Wells’ story, it is clear that social systems sometimes prefigure these biases in advance. 

Within specific social institutions, designations like 'insiders' and 'outsiders' are readily adapted. This much, it could be posited, is the result of desired comfort. Ultimately, actors within a society are willing to conform in order to adapt to an easier way of life. If one imposes enough opposition and constriction upon others, their social character can be greatly affected. While the progressive ideas within the academic institutions of the United States, for example, would like to portray Americans as inclusive, inclusivity always relies on a form of exclusion. Though America is a melting pot comprised of many ethnicities and nationalities, the character of a 'terrorist' has been deployed regularly since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Today, this figure is the most recognizable outsider within the U.S.

Creating and maintaining exclusionary biases requires routine participation from social actors. Only when individuals adapt uniform behaviors can these be recognized from the outside. Importantly, however, those that adopt some of these tactics are some of the most immune to their sensitivity. As Wells’ narrator says of the villagers, “Much of their imagination had shriveled with their eyes.” (Wells, 1904) The author here seems to be highlighting the notion that once populations start to shy away from the effects of their decisions, they too will lose the ability to criticize them. So too today have many Americans lost their ability to criticize the actions of a presidential administration. 

Social structures thus are the primary cites through which individuals can dissolve inclusionary biases. These biases, when uprooted, sometimes unearth other beliefs that can positively foster more adaptive ideals within society. By doing away with rigid expectations of behavior, however, populations are likely to become less comfortable. In this view, letting go of a culturally compulsive need for comfort is one way to recognize the importance of asserting that comfort for others. In Wells’ short narrative work, the villagers never arrive at this realization. As a result, the man from Columbia leaves behind the country which he believed he could rule. Today, meanwhile, the imposition of the travel ban makes general populations from ban-list countries suspect individuals: potential terrorists. 

When societies foster the binary of 'insiders' and 'outsiders,' respective cultures suffer. Social arenas like academic institutions are one possible ground for conversations to open up. Only by attacking biases can Americans hope to effectuate the ideals which they believe they represent. 

The “Blindest” and the “Deafest”

Blindness and deafness can serve as equal — if very different — impedances. Nunez's blindness in H.G. Wells’ story is the result of his social conditioning and, to a large extent, his own hubris. Refusing to see what he cannot comprehend, Nunez prevents himself from relating earnestly with the villagers. In a similar fashion, the villagers are deaf to Nunez's claims and this prevents him from being able to give to them any of the benefits of sight which could make their lives easier. Though both the villagers and Nunez are guilty of both not hearing or seeing one another, both of these enacted sets of behaviors prove detrimental primarily to their own respective wishes. 

Nunez's blindness is an anomalous trait. Rather than explicit, Wells makes this characteristic of his protagonist something of a faint echo. Early in the work, the author details of the people from the Country of the Blind that “Intonation had long replaced expression with them, and touches gesture” (Wells, 1904). This is a special declaration that carries on throughout the work. Later, for example, the narrator notes that each time Nunez repeats his claim (that he should be king), he does so “[d]uring the meditations he repeated very frequently and always with a profounder note of derision” (Wells, 1904). Thus, somewhat ambiguously, Nunez has adopted one of the practices of the people without necessarily realizing it. Instead of paying close attention to intonation in a society that cannot see, however, Nunez instead only realizes the differences between himself and the villagers. 

The villagers' deafness is likewise at first confusing for readers. With inability reinforced greatly by their disability, the villagers opt not to hear what they cannot themselves accept. While imagining sight is surely no easy task, blind populations living within established societies are aware of their handicap. Refusing to understand Nunez's ability, then, only reinforces the beliefs by which the villagers have lived throughout their entire lives. It is thus clear to see that, in addition to being physically blind, they allow themselves to become deaf. When Nunez tries and fails to predict the arrival of Pedro, for example, it can only appear to readers curious that they refuse to acknowledge another way of determining an individual's path. Instead of attempting to understand what he claims, the villagers are more likely to believe he is mad. Importantly, this is one trait that co-exists in both the societies of the blind and in Bogota. 

Nunez's blindness is as poignant as the villagers' deafness. Not allowing himself to directly relate to the villagers, the protagonist of the story allows himself to become blind, if not by way of surgical means. Likewise, by preventing Nunez's position from being appreciated within their society, the villagers deafen themselves to potential solutions for their limited lives. Limitation in this view, however, is externally posited by Wells’ readers. The biases with which readers enter into his short story are informed by Western notions. As such, at the story's close, readers are forced to wonder if they too have allowed themselves to become either blind or deaf in some capacity.

Assimilation

In modern society, pressure weighs heavily on individuals to assimilate. If one is cast as an outsider, the negative consequences that this person can endure are potentially fatal. From one view, once an individual becomes recognized as an outsider, it is difficult to re-inscribe a different social character within them. Through assimilation, however, a good deal of individuality can be lost. Among these, some of the most meritorious traits can be forsaken in order to achieve individual acceptance. In “The Country of the Blind,” H.G. Wells makes a paralyzing comparison between this observation and the events that surround Nunez's impending surgery.

When he first encounters the placid countryside village, Nunez believes that he will not only integrate; he is certain that he will become the king of the remote area. Instead, Nunez finds himself continually marginalized throughout the work. His benefit of sight is believed to be a false claim. In society today, oftentimes when individuals assert their own exceptionalism, such a claim is met with doubt and dismay. Wells similarly portrays the small village as having this reaction. Such doubt, however, can actually negatively impact the society in question.

Societies that force assimilation bankrupt their populations of individualism. In America, for example, there is no de facto national language. Though English is standard, this norm is not imposed as the only acceptable language. This is one way in which Americans are able to retain some aspect of their former national identity. In the village of Wells’ story, however, their inability to recognize the benefits of Nunez's sight leads them to believe that he should be blinded and thus made into one of them. Pressures like these force drastic decisions, as when the character runs away from his surgical obligation on “his last day of vision” (Wells, 1904). 

With respect to the aforementioned character of the terrorist, there is a significant amount to be learned from Wells’ story. Assimilation into a country can come naturally for some populations. When there are already values posited in terms of interiority and exteriority, however, natural inclusion becomes problematic. Thus, for Nunez, his marginalization is one that grows with his own social discord. His inability to assimilate underscored throughout his failed efforts to convince villagers of his worth is prefigured by their interpretation of him.

Assimilation can thus prevent society from acquiring some of its most accurate and thorough critics. The blind people featured in Wells’ story are left without any of the revelations about sight that Nunez could have elucidated. It is suggested, however, that they have regularly ignored and banished others that were critical. The same marginalization through which Nunez first understood the villagers became the primary method through which they learned to understand him. In contemporary society, this kind of action is routinely replicated. Assimilation into a region cannot come from the foreclosed behaviors and ideologies of new populations. Instead, these beliefs and new ideas need to be integrated into society in order to assure its highest level of functioning. 

Turning Point

The realization of love or the actualization of its unrequitedness is frequently a major turning point in a work. Between Wellsian protagonist Nunez and Medina-Saroté, however, love takes on a much more drastic appearance. For Nunez, Medina-Saroté becomes the motivating factor in his decision to stay and potentially undergo surgery. This much, however, could have been greatly affected by the social norms that were extant in the village. The unrequitedness that permeates the conclusion of “The Country of the Blind” underscores the differences in values between the two cultures and the impossibility of Nunez and Medina-Saroté's companionship. 

Nunez enters the village as a lone and scantly described individual. As such, readers have no preconception of his former love life. Additionally, aside from a few spare details about his employment and career, readers have little to stabilize Nunez's general conception of love. This, however, is only even recognized in the foreground of the work when he takes interest in another outcast, Medina-Saroté. The latter is believed to be, like Nunez, suffering from an impairment. What the villagers believe can be cured in Nunez, however, cannot be fixed in Medina-Saroté. Instead, her long eyelashes and verifiable blindness are symbols of her partly-included social character.

Nunez, on the other hand, is a complete outsider to the villagers and, as such, is unfit to marry Medina-Saroté. Medina-Saroté herself believes that Nunez should give up his sight so as to become more like her and those with whom she is most comfortable. Her family members and elders within the village forbid their union unless Nunez is willing to undergo surgery that will make him, like the rest of the village, blind. This is the exact moment wherein Wells’ story takes a drastic turn. 

Though he initially believes that he will be able to subject himself to surgery for the sake of Medina-Saroté, Nunez develops doubts. Rather than commit to such a life-changing event completely, he finally leaves the village when the day for his surgery arrives. For Nunez, only after leaving did “these people [cease] to be a generalized people and became individualities to him” (Wells, 1904). In this way, it is clear for Wells’ readership that the actions of the individual are only comprehensible in terms of the worldview fashioned by one's own culture. Medina-Saroté, who very well could have asked that Nunez not undergo the surgery, instead insists upon the action. In this way, it is clear that Nunez would only be appreciated if he were to completely give up his own preconceptions, beliefs, and likes. 

Medina-Saroté and Nunez never could have committed to one another. From another vantage, the kind of assimilation to which villages had been innately accustomed over the course of their lives would have proven a serious impediment for him. As such, he and Medina-Saroté could only ever exist within the village as outsiders. This realization is the turning point of the story because it forces Nunez to make the decision that has been lingering on the reader's mind throughout the course of the short story. Namely: to leave.

Reference

Wells, H. G. (1904). The Lord of the Dynamos. Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/3/