Saramago asks how people would change if they had to rely on each other to survive. In style, he never attributes dialogue to a character, but because he builds strong characters it is clear who is speaking. The novel is a pessimistic but believable allegory on the nature of selfishness.

An allegory on inhumanity. Story follows survivors trapped in a mental asylum during a global blindness epidemic. With brutal characters, parts of the story are uncomfortable to read, but this is a masterpiece. Saramago wraps a good story around some deep philosophical thoughts on humanity.