How Important Is the Role of the Outsider, in Terms of Plot Development and Structure, in ‘the Country of the Blind and the Destructors?’

How important is the role of the outsider, in terms of plot development and structure, in ‘The Country of the Blind and The Destructors?’

To begin, the protagonist in each text is set in the role of the outsider. Both Nunez and ‘T’ complete a major change in both their plot and development. There are evident contrasts in the way in which both of these characters transform; this enables us to juxtapose both text and protagonist in the way these outsiders importantly redound on the story line and the other characters. In Nunez we see a strong character, who historicism critics could view him as a powerful country in demise given the political circumstance of the time, whose own dominance gradually weakens. In sharp contrast ‘T’ is the brooding, malevolent personification of a post World War II generation that has never witnessed peace and calm, wanting nothing but to inflict more of the devastation that he is used to. ‘T’ has a revolutionary idealism that gradually gains momentum as the plot unfolds with striking similarities to the great revolutionaries of the time. Both protagonists have completely different settings into which they are able to influence the plot. The calm and tranquil backdrop in ‘The Country of the Blind (TCotB, 1904)’ is in direct contrast to the apocalyptic post blitz scene in ‘The Destructors (TD, 1954)’. These differences force ‘T’ and Nunez to impact on plot development and structure in very different ways.

The involuntary path that Nunez takes when he happens on a fabled blind community and his reaction to this environment is the first clue to how the plot may develop and his post-colonial attitude. There are also similarities in this text to ‘The Island of Dr Moreau’ (H.G. Wells 1896 cited in Ousby 1996). On trying to gain the attention of the people of the village and failing, Nunez thinks to himself “The fools must be blind” (TCotB p5), already we can see that he is associating the words ‘fools’ and ‘blind’ together, thus giving us an insight into Nunez’s assumptions of disability and the beginning of his intentions. ‘T’s path into the plot is less involuntary as he is described as the ‘latest recruit that became the leader’ giving the impression that he willingly sought a position in the gang and then affirmed this by taking a pivotal role. To emphasize this, there is an acceptance on both sides as there are ‘possibilities about his brooding silence that all recognized’. We are given a sneak preview of ‘T’s plan that defines the plot structure when he startles the gang by broodingly saying “Wren built that house, father says” (TD p1). The house, of being no consequence to the other younger boys, now becomes the focus of ‘T’s fledgling plan and ‘T’ becomes the focus of the plot.

In typical modernist fashion, Greene sticks to the rules and is not reminiscent in anyway which continues the flow of the story line. At no point does ‘T’ use demotic language that is associated with the other members of the gang, phrases such as ‘bleeding funk’(TD p2) and ‘the bogies’(TD p6) are not part of ‘T’s vocabulary. This is a subtle but useful method of separating characters, enabling the author to structure the plot, denoting different class and status within a microcosm. We are given an insight into ‘T’s background and his slightly higher class status when he describes Old Misery’s house as ‘beautiful’ (TD p2), a concept that is alien to the typically working class boys of the gang. This one comment puts into peril ‘T’s position, which adds to the tension as he declares ‘this was better…I found out things’ (TD p2). H.G. Wells, in comparison, goes against the grain with his long, circumlocutory paragraphs and his recollection of past events to set the scene before he begins his tale of Nunez and his adventure in the ‘Country of the Blind’. We are cast backwards ‘Long years ago’ (TCofB p1) and frequent use of dated words such as ‘thither’, ‘hither’ and ‘perforce’(TCotB p1) typifies Wells’ lexical technique. While there are no differences in use of language to denote class in ‘The Country of the Blind’ the very fact that Nunez uses and understands words associated with sight and the blind people do not, would give the reader the impression that Nunez is more intellectual and as a result of a higher class status.

A pluralist view, ‘an open minded approach to viewing text’ (Peck and Coyle, 2002), of Nunez would incorporate Marxist Criticism as the dictator and Feminist Criticism as the fall of man in a male dominated environment. There is only one female mentioned, ‘Medina-Sarote’, who is the only character that Nunez feels any kind of kinship with, although this is based purely on an aesthetic basis. The effect of Medina-Sarote on Nunez and consequently the structure of the plot should not be underestimated. It is this allegiance that Nunez feels towards Medina-Sarote that drives him to want to become a ‘citizen’ (TCotB p16) and to be like the others. Drastically, Nunez agrees to have his eyes removed showing how he has succumbed to his environment and that ‘In the Country of the Blind the One-Eye Man is King’ is not necessarily true. This turn of events changes the potential for Nunez, who once saw himself as a colonial dictator ‘unformed mind…King and Master’ (TCofB p10), to the repressed underclass ‘Good-bye…good-bye’ (TCotB p20) as he is forced to give up his eyesight at the behest of his new masters. There is a double-sided class issue involving ‘T’ in ‘The Destructors’, as Marxist Critics would believe that the house and Mr. Thomas would be representative of the bourgeoisie and the gang are the lower class proletariat seeking to destroy their masters ‘one moment the house…like a man in a top hat’ (TD p10). However, this is also the background from which ‘T’ has grown up but he does not enjoy his social status ‘he protested…child he had never been’ (TD p7). ‘T’ seeks to destroy the house thus exacting revenge on his own class for his unhappy home life. A feminist point of view would note that there are no female characters and link this to the behaviour of the gang, perhaps the influence of a female would have altered the direction of the plot and the denouement.

With the house crashing down around the lorry driver and Mr. Thomas, ‘T’s work has been completed but in more than one way. Our anti-hero has rebelled against the establishment that he despises, he has received, albeit temporary, social acceptance from the gang and beautifully created an organized anarchy from a rag-tag group of delinquents ‘and destruction…of creation’ (TD p5). There is a view that ‘The Destructors’ is a parable about ‘the creation by destruction of the perfect anarchist state’ (Clarke, P. 1986). Or that Greene wrote a ‘genuinely ambiguous’ story (Gorecki, J. 1985), that presents us with a post-war moral dilemma and leaves us feeling uneasy about its concept. With very subtle shifts of direction H.G. Wells retains Nunez as the focus of the plot, while at the same time shifting the chalice of power from Nunez to the blind people. The effect of this upon the reader is to smirk with satisfaction that the protagonist’s narrow minded opinions strongly aid his downfall, while at the same time repel with disgust at the thought of a blind man removing Nunez’s eyes so he can conform ‘a simple surgical… remove these irritant bodies’ (TCotB p18).

To conclude, different historical settings have influenced both sets of works in different ways but at the same time they confront similar issues of class. Nunez is symbolic of tyrannical rule and dictatorship, while Mr. Thomas and the house are the softer issues of 1950’s Britain. It is prevalent in Greene’s work the use of the star on the toilet door, symbolic of the Star of David worn by the Jews. Also the figure ‘12’, symbolic of the number of planes that flew in a Luftwaffe pack in sorties over London. Wells and Greene would have been greatly influenced by what was happening around them at the time. Greene uses the character of Trevor to develop the plot similar to a modern day evil genius hatching his master plan (or indeed, Hitler’s intentions for Europe), to organise the gang around him forming a group of ‘friends’, climaxing in a dramatic crescendo. Greene’s four stages of destruction structure the text in such a way that we are intrigued and at the same time appalled. Wells, in contrast, gives us his strong, intelligent, if some what deluded hero in Nunez. There are little few semiotics early in the text to indicate the downfall of Nunez, rather we expect him to declare ‘veni, vidi, vici’ at the end of the text. This is pivotal to the plot development as the reader is given a false sense of security, coupled with Wells’ long and detailed introduction that makes it easy to believe that this mythical paradise does exist. Wells gradually alters the dynamics of the plot structure and ‘The Country of the Blind’ ends with Nunez overcome and overpowered by the lesser disabled community. It is poignant that Nunez would rather risk death at the hands of the elements, a situation that he has some experience in at the beginning of the text, than suffer permanent disfigurement and possibly death, at the hands of a blind surgeon. Although the reader is unsure whether it is the concept of pain and blindness, or the social misconception of being blind that makes Nunez take flight.

Word count 1551.