IV: Blindness—Vague Questions explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Blindness and Perception

  The chapter delves into the blind boy's inner world, his vague yearnings, and his heightened sensitivity to nature and the cosmos, as when he senses a falling star.

• Nature and the Human Condition

  Petrùsya finds solace and understanding in the natural world—the steppe, the wind, the grass—which harmonizes with his melancholy mood.

Characters to notice

• Petrùsya

  The blind boy, now ten years old, experiences vague yearnings and melancholy, finding comfort in nature and his friendship with Evelyn.

• Maxim Yatzènko

  Uncle Maxim observes the limits of his educational influence and the mysterious inner development of his nephew.

• Evelyn

  The fair-haired girl from the estate, whose friendship with Petrùsya deepens through mutual sympathy; she is deeply affected by his blindness.

• Pani Popèlska

  The mother of the blind boy, who realizes the value of Evelyn's friendship and observes her son's growing sensitivity.

Key passages

• “There are natures that seem predestined for the gentle task of love, as well as for the anxieties of sorrow—natures in whom a sympathy for the cares or griefs of others is a necessity as imperative as the air they breathe.”

  Some people are born with a deep need to love and to share in the sorrows of others, as essential to them as breathing.

  Introduces the character type of Evelyn, who is naturally compassionate and selfless.

• “In these outbreaks by which Nature effects her gratuitous revelations, disturbing, so to speak, the equilibrium between the supply of acquired knowledge on the one hand and that of personal experience on the other, Maxim had no trouble in following the connecting links of the phenomena of universal life, which diverging into thousands of channels enter into separate and 'individual' lives.”

  Maxim could see how nature's spontaneous revelations upset the balance between what the boy learned and what he experienced personally, linking him to the broader currents of life.

  Reflects Maxim's realization that the boy's development is influenced by forces beyond his control.

• “Hence a dim yet ever present consciousness of desire that craves contentment; an undefined yearning to exercise the dormant powers of his soul which have never been called into action.”

  The blind boy feels a constant, vague longing to use inner abilities that have never been awakened.

  Describes the boy's inner turmoil and the source of his melancholy.

• “He longed more and more for solitude; and when in his hours of recreation he started off on his lonely walk, the family would avoid that direction, lest they might disturb his solitude.”

  He increasingly sought solitude, and his family learned to stay away so as not to interrupt his time alone.

  Shows the boy's growing need for isolation and the family's respect for it.

• “Suddenly a meteor, leaping forth from the darkness, flashed across the sky in one brilliant streak; and as it gradually disappeared, it left behind a trail of phosphorescent light. Petrùsya seated beside his mother had linked his arm in hers, and she became suddenly conscious that he started and began to tremble.”

  A meteor streaked across the sky, and the blind boy, sitting next to his mother, startled and trembled, sensing the event without seeing it.

  Illustrates the boy's extraordinary sensitivity and the mystery of his perception.