Blindness

Content warning: This chapter contains graphic scenes of sexual assault, violence, and gang rape.

This chapter starts off with a thought experiment from the narrator. They imagine what the naturally blind man from Chapter 9—now referred to as “the blind accountant”—might write down if he was not aligned with the blind hooligans. Instead of keeping inventory of others’ belongings, he might record the reality of living in the asylum, which includes filthy living conditions, rampant disease, and malnutrition amongst other ailments. The narrator then considers why the internees have not joined together to rise up and overthrow the tyrannical blind hoodlums. He explains that while some proposed collective action, the call for prudence won out. Instead, they decided to send a smaller group of 10 to 12 volunteers to demand better treatment. Those men were quickly chased away, and the lead hoodlum even fired a shot at them that went wide but convinced the volunteers that protest was futile, especially after the protesters were denied food for three days.

Soon, the hoodlums increase their demands. First, they demand that more valuables be turned over before they will release more food. While the first ward had nothing more to give—they had been honest from the start—the other wards begin self-policing.