It should be noted that partial blindness does not follow the same pattern. Although deficient eyesight (one-eyed, nearsighted, farsighted) is very common, the use of spectacles in Perec’s novel is hardly ever to improve vision. All references to spectacles are of the aesthetic kind: they denote an activity (researcher, schoolmaster, calligrapher) or a status (James Sherwood’s pince-nez). They are used in disguises (the six-year-old piano player on p. 286, or the mandarin on p. 400) and are often accessories for sunbathing, skiing, swimming, and so forth—that is, their function is to protect the eye rather than to improve vision.