Hay, on the whole, I thought it was a hopeful story. Yes, there is ugliness and cruelty, but there is also a core of humanity that tries to break through despite the bleakness.
It kind of speaks to the world we live in, doesn't it. There will always be horror and inhumanity, but there's also great kindness and caring if you look. Of course, I'm a glass half-full kind of gal.
hay82 said:
I was just wondering about the paintings she saw in the church, a man nailed to a cross with a white bandage around his eyes, a woman with her heart pierced by 7 swords, all of the people in the pictures blind, except for the woman with her gouged-out eyes on a silver tray. I figured there had to be something in this.
I don't have the book anymore, so can't look up the precise context of your description. However, I remember thinking the symbolism, at least on the surface, seemed fairly straightforward.
My thoughts:
The woman with her gouged-out eyes on the tray = doctor's wife who remains sighted, still has her eyes;
Woman with heart pierced by 7 swords = sighted woman, loves/cares for/leads the 7 blind because of innate goodness of her heart (they have penetrated her heart, therefore she loves them);
The crucifix figure (man nailed to cross with white bandage) = Christ-like forgiveness of the sins/depravity of the God-caused white blindness (white bandage). Not sure about this last one.
There are other interpretations, I'm sure.