“The Man Who Had No Eyes”
By MacKinlay Kantor
Please answer the questions on looseleaf. Please DO NOT write on this sheet.
1. Setting: Describe the setting of this short story. Be sure to consider the five aspects of setting as we
previously discussed.
2. Setting: Kantor skilfully leads us to believe that Parsons can see, until we read the final line of the story.
Re-read the paragraph beginning with “The air was rich….” What hints does Kantor give the reader
when describing the setting to indicate that Parsons is blind.
3. Plot: Summarize the main events of this story in your own words. Identify which events are the
introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
4. Plot: What happened to cause the men’s blindness?
5. Conflict: What is the conflict in this story? What type and kind of conflict is it?
6. Character: Write character descriptions for Parsons and Markwardt. Please write a separate paragraph
for each. Even though both men experienced the same life-changing event, how could you account for
the fact that one has become successful while the other has not? (Inference – read between the lines –
to find your answer)
7. Character: Who do you think is the protagonist and who is the antagonist? Explain why you think
this.
8. Character: Kantor chooses language intended to make the reader react negatively to Markwardt (even
before he is proven to be a liar). Quote two or three lines from the text and explain how they support
this statement.
9. POV: What point of view is the story written from?
10. Theme: In a sentence, what do you think is the theme of the story?