Rule #22: He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
November 27, 2016 How To Read Lit 2 comments ndesrosiers17
Whenever an author includes a blind character it makes it harder on the author and means the reader should now look for references to sight because it now will not be all literal from then on.
- Also when a character is blinded they can still “see” whether it is through prophecy or through other senses.
- Usually the blinded character sees more than other characters and knows the big picture.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, there is a character that is blind. Although him being blind he has one of the most crucial jobs on the USS Enterprise. His job in season one is being a helmsman and then for the rest of the series he is the chief engineer. Throughout the series he worked on the machinery on the USS Enterprise that kept it running and also made new scientific discoveries. This helps to support rule #22 by showing that Geordi La Forge, despite being blind, has a high intellect and also is crucial to keeping the spaceship operating. By making Geordi blind, the creator’s of the show brought more difficulty on themselves by making it necessary to create special objects to help Geordi such as the VISOR.
2 Comments
This is a rule of literature I never really thought about before. I definitely do agree that a blind character must be a lot harder for an author to write about, maybe less so if the author is actually blind, however. I like how you went into such depth with your example. an example I have come across is the Story of Helen Keller.
I guess I’ve never really thought about looking more into how authors use blind characters for a reason. I mean I realized that they can “see” with their other senses pretty well but It is sometimes hard to pick up on the clues that talk about sight. I also like how you chose to write about this topic because I found it to be bold but different which made it enjoyable to read.