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The Country of Blind

This tale describes a mountain climber who falls into an isolated valley inhabited by a community that has been blind for 15 generations. At first, the climber believes his sight gives him power as "the one-eyed man among the blind". However, he soon learns their society functions without sight and sees his eyes as a disability. He falls in love but can only marry by agreeing to remove his eyes. Faced with losing his sight or his love, he ultimately chooses to maintain his sight and leaves the valley. The story is an exploration of perception and ability, showing how circumstances alone define disability.

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Bhavani .S
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191 views6 pages

The Country of Blind

This tale describes a mountain climber who falls into an isolated valley inhabited by a community that has been blind for 15 generations. At first, the climber believes his sight gives him power as "the one-eyed man among the blind". However, he soon learns their society functions without sight and sees his eyes as a disability. He falls in love but can only marry by agreeing to remove his eyes. Faced with losing his sight or his love, he ultimately chooses to maintain his sight and leaves the valley. The story is an exploration of perception and ability, showing how circumstances alone define disability.

Uploaded by

Bhavani .S
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE

COUNTRY
OF THE
BLIND
H.G. WELLS
Born Herbert George Wells
27 September 1866
Bromley, Kent,
England
Died 13 August 1946
(aged 79)
Regent's Park,
London, England
Occupation Novelist, teacher,
historian, journalist
Alma mater Royal College of
Seience (mperial
College London)
Genre Seience fiction
(notably social
seience fiction), social
realism
The story is about mysterious valley
a

in South Ameriea where a community


grew up, separated from the rest of
civilisation. A disease struck the
community which meant that people
went blind, until each new generation
was born completely sightless.
Summary of The Country of the Blind'

Author: Herbert George Wells


Plot: In this tale a mountain climber falls off into a strange and isolated world which is inhabited
by blind people who daim to have been in existence for about 15 generations and cut off from the
of the
rest world by an earthquake in the early years of founding. The intruder remembers an old
rhyme and quickly decides that "n the Country of the Blind, the One-eyed Man is King"
However, his attitude seems wrong
i n a society which no longer knows the meaning of the word
see"and stilloperatesand
perfectly, effectively and happily with their othertosenses tuned with
sensitively
Virtually imprisoned relegated to serve them, the interloper begins
learnliving his
disability his sight. Eventually he falls in love with a woman. He gains the permission to marry
her only if he is willing to abandon his eyes, which are deemed the course of the irrational
occurred in the beginning ofhis
outbursis which choose 'imprisonment', and have them removed. When
one of his most important senses, his sight, he
he finally has to between his love and
chooses the latter one and decides to break out.
Interpretation: The whole story is a reversal of the idea of disability which shows us that the
define the word disability. The experience of being an alien seems to be the
cireumstances alone
major point of this story.
The visitor first thinks that he has got an advantageMan
Blind,
over the blind people, remembering an old
but his turns out to be
phrase: "In the Country of the the One-eyed is King" advantage
in fact a disadvantage. The climax of the story is the end where he has to decide whether his sight
is more iportant to him or love.
The story ends
with him lying peacefully contented' under
the stars when night eomes. 13-Mar-2021
H. G. WUells uses ethnocentrism as a
strong device in the short story The
Country of the Blind' to qenerate the
central conflict and to convey the
theme: the perils of that deadly
combination of stubbornness and
blindness.

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