For 10 points, name this novel which recounts a social breakdown after an epidemic of the titular condition, written by Jose Saramago.
In this work, some characters while crossing a square overhear speakers "extolling the virtues of the fundamental principles of the great organized systems, private property, a free currency market, [and] the stock exchange," which leaves one of the main characters silent. Its sequel centers on a parliamentary election where the majority of people cast blank ballots, and in a late scene, the protagonists enter a church whose artwork is covered in bandages. One character in this novel stabs the leader of a group of hoodlums with a pair of scissors, and is consoled by a dog who licks away her tears. It opens at a traffic signal where a car does not respond to a green light, and its characters include "the doctor" and the "doctor's wife." For 10 points, name this novel which recounts a social breakdown after an epidemic of the titular condition, written by Jose Saramago.
In this work, some characters while crossing a square overhear speakers "extolling the virtues of the fundamental principles of the great organized systems, private property, a free currency market, [and] the stock exchange," which leaves one of the main characters silent.
Blindness 