How does the author's choice to reveal the woman's blindness in the last paragraph contribute to the overall story?

Answer and Explanation:

This question refers to the short story "The Mouse", by Saki.

The main character is Theodoric Voler, a man who has been raised in a most overprotected manner. He finds the world to be full of annoyances and disturbances.

The theme of this story revolves around Theodoric's self-centeredness. He is so busy worrying about himself, about his image in front of others, and about his comfort that he fails to notice and pay attention to other people's sufferings and misfortunes. That theme is developed at the climax of the story. It turns out that the woman who is sharing the train carriage with Theodoric is blind. He had been utterly embarrassed throughout their trip because he needed to half undress in order to get rid of a mouse that was crawling under his clothes.

Theodoric suffered terribly, to the point of shivering, imagining what that woman could be thinking of him. Too concerned about his own petty problems, he failed to realize her blindness. The author only reveals her blindness at the end of the story, which means readers have suffered all the while with Theodoric, wondering what that woman's reaction would be. By being told about her blindness in the last paragraph, readers are left surprised and maybe even a bit upset at Theodoric and all his unnecessary worry.