The dog of tears Character Analysis

The “dog of tears” is an unusually human-like dog who joins the fledgling family led by the doctor’s wife. The doctor’s wife first encounters the dog when she gets lost on the way home from the supermarket to the store, where the others are waiting for her; the dog sits with her while she weeps in distress. The doctor’s wife then brings the dog home to the rest of the group—they feed the dog, who in turn protects them from possible threats (mostly the packs of dogs and blind people who now roam the city’s streets). But Saramago does not narrate this relationship as transactional—rather, the dog of tears is an important part of the blind people’s family, both beloved by and deeply empathetic for the people who have adopted him. This is a remarkable reversal of metaphor, since throughout the book, various characters compare the blind internees in quarantine to “dogs” because of the capacities they lose and inhumane environment in which they are forced to live.