The Sight Sickness

It was an epidemic. It was a plague that shocked both those who got it and those who did not. It was coined "the white sickness." For inexplicable reasons, random citizens became blind, and the sickness was believed to be contagious. Instead of teaching people to manage their disability, the government rounded up the newly-blind and caged them like animals. The quarantine facilities had no organization, no plumbing, no electricity, and no law and order. Both the blind and the seeing were terrified.

When the crisis subsided, the officials in charge were tried for their role in the inhumane treatment of the citizens; they were acquitted. One vigilante group is not satisfied with the verdict. Calling themselves the Cellmates, they kidnap seven people and hold them hostage-keeping them blinded so they can experience the same fears as those who were blinded in the plague.

A blend of social commentary, criticism, parody, and polemic, author Christine Faltz Grassman offers an anti-sequel to Blindness, a psychological thriller written by Jos Saramago. The Sight Sickness, Grassman's personal response to the public's fear of blindness, works to show that with the right attitude, the right tools, and the right techniques, blindness is manageable.