28 pages • 56 minutes read
MacKinlay KantorA Man Who Had No Eyes
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Mr. Parsons
Mr. Parsons sells insurance and has traveled to an unnamed city for business purposes. Parsons exhibits a “bootstrap mentality,” in which he attributes his success to his own hard work. This mentality dictates that people are accountable for their circumstances, whether good or bad. Prior to the accident that resulted in his blindness, Parsons was a laborer at Westbury. Despite the trauma he experienced due to the Westbury chemical explosion, life is full of promise and possibilities for Mr. Parsons. He is full of health and vigor; he is “very glad to be alive,” and the spring air “could thrill him with eagerness” (Paragraph 3).
Although Mr. Parsons is compassionate, his sympathies for those he considers to be in less fortunate circumstances position him as superior. In hearing the “blind beggar” approach, he feels a “sudden and foolish sort of pity for all blind creatures” (Paragraph 2). The word “creatures” functions to dehumanize those with blindness and calls into question the true depths of his compassion. However, his patience is exemplified in his response to the “peddler” who rudely and forcefully claims his time and attention. Even though he is not a smoker, Parsons agrees to buy the cigarette lighter at the man’s insistence. Despite his act of charity and the position of power he is in, he respects the man’s privacy and inquires about his blindness with caution and sensitivity, as he does not wish “to be boorish and inquisitive, even with a blind peddler” (Paragraph 10).
Mr. Parsons is characterized as a stoic man, one who is reserved in emotional affectation and can handle intense emotions—such as pain, betrayal, and anger—with strength and restrain. When Markwardt begins his tale of the Westbury accident, Parsons does not betray any emotion or unusual familiarity with the incident. At one point during Markwardt’s narrative, Mr. Parsons is struck by the word “insure” and attempts to say that he sells insurance. He is more concerned with the present and his career in the insurance business than reliving his past tragedy. This highlights his determination to leave the past behind and focus on the present. Even when Parsons realizes that the “blind peddler” is an outright liar and his deceitful coworker from the past, he maintains his calm composure and waits for Markwardt to finish spinning his yarn. Mr. Parsons calmly rebuts Markwardt’s lies without losing his temper. The brevity of his responses stands in stark contrast to the dramatic reactions of his former coworker.
As a character, Mr. Parsons symbolizes the virtues of honesty, compassion, and perseverance.
Markwardt
Markwardt is a foil to Mr. Parsons. Although he was also a laborer who lost his eyesight 14 years ago in a chemical explosion like Parsons, Markwardt is now a “blind peddler.” He believes himself to be more than a “beggar” and attempts to extract money from sympathetic strangers by drawing attention to his disability. He is physically unattractive and shabbily dressed. His body language betrays slyness and deceit. Even after Mr. Parsons declines to buy the cigarette lighter, as he is a non-smoker, Markwardt “wheedles” him to buy it, quickly pocketing the money. He is an experienced teller of his tragic tale, and he enthusiastically launches into the story of his blindness with the “studied drama of a story often told […] for money” (Paragraph 17). He takes “an insane sort of pride” (Paragraph 11) in reliving his past trauma and feels he is entitled to sympathy and monetary help. He refuses to take charge of his life and pins the blame on the failure of the capitalist system to pay him compensation.
Markwardt’s obsession with himself and his tragedy is reflected in his failure to notice Mr. Parsons’s responses while he narrates the story. He neither allows his listener to finish sentences nor notices that Mr. Parsons has grown oddly quiet by the time he finishes his recollections. His self-absorption prevents him from finding anything strange in the long silence that follows the story; instead, he “swallowed—a studied sob—and stood dumbly expectant” (Paragraph 17). However, his moral turpitude is exposed when Mr. Parsons reveals that Markwardt’s “sob story” is only partially true: It was Markwardt who treacherously pushed back his coworker in a bid to escape from the chemical explosion. When confronted with the truth, Markwardt’s initial smooth talk degrades into frenzied rants. In the climax, he resorts to intense assertations and accusations: “YES. MAYBE SO. MAYBE SO. BUT I’M BLIND! I’M BLIND...” (Paragraph 24). His dramatic reiteration that he is blind reveals his stubborn refusal to see reality and take responsibility for his actions.
The author offers no redemption for the character. Markwardt does not feel remorse for manipulating the truth or for his past cruelty in thwarting Mr. Parsons’s escape from the disaster. Instead, Markwardt accuses the latter of taking advantage of his disability and letting him make a fool of himself. To Markwardt, the fact that he lost his eyesight is reason enough to claim the moral high ground and accuse Mr. Parsons of insensitivity. Markwardt, a manipulative, self-serving man who refuses to accept responsibility for his past actions, is the antithesis of Mr. Parsons. While the story’s title refers to literal blindness, it also denotes Markwardt’s inability to accept reality, i.e., his culpability and ill treatment of Mr. Parsons during the explosion.
