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Blindness in Literature

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In this world, not everything is always quite as it seems. There are tricks that are played on us every day-whether it be a simple optical illusion or maybe even the pondering of the true identity of your Secret Santa for this year. We are constantly assessing and reassessing things, trying to get the most truth and answers out of a situation. We are figuratively blind to things until we discover the truth of a situation. Sometimes the truth can be enlightening, and often times the truth can be terrible. Examples of this blindness can be found in literature and film. Two works that showcase this blindness are the story Republica and Grau by David Alarcon and the 2005 film The Island. Both works show that the world can be much different from the way we first perceive it. Alarcon’s world is one of suffering, lost innocence and meaninglessness, while the world of the island offers that one should try to keep their innocence as long as possible lest they be exposed to the horrors of the real world. Both of these works feature a character that is metaphorically blind to their surroundings. In The Island Lincoln Six Echo is a clone grown from a client's donated cells. Each clone matures to adulthood in a synthetic womb in just 12 months. Clones then come into the world and are given memory implants of a real life, using 12 different generic life memories. These memories cause them to believe that they are living underground because there is a “contamination” in the world. A daily lottery held for the clones. Winners get to move to "The Island", a fictional place where there is no contamination and life is perfect. Winners of the lottery are those whose organs are needed by the clients. They are taken away and basically used for parts, completely unbeknownst to the other clones. Lincoln Six Echo is completely unaware of the truth about the outside world and is blissfully unaware of the fact that he is a clone only considered good for h

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