The Diving Bell and the Butterfly #2

I will only be able to do 2 posts on this book; I just got assigned to read a book from the Dominican Republic in my Spanish class, so next week I will start blogging about that and, if there is enough time in the year, I will come back to this book.

The whole concept of "Locked In Syndrome" is terrible. Day after day, Bauby is visited by mourners, coming to console him on his tragic accident. I can imagine how awkward it would be to visit someone in Bauby's condition, someone who could not respond to anything you said. You couldn't even read facial cues or body language to glean his emotions. It would be like talking to yourself, except you would have the knowledge that you weren't. It would still be the same person in that hospital bed that you knew before the accident happened, the same mind functioning the same way, but how could you ever have a normal conversation again? You couldn't, unless you patiently dictated every letter, which would then destroy the air of casual banter that your old conversations used to have. Bauby's chapters are very short, little vignettes that do not necessarily connect. So far, he has described his daily routines and feelings towards the accident. He has not said much about his past life or family. In the movie, his ex wife, children, and girlfriend visit him. The girlfriend is in utter shock, but reasonably so. Slowly, Bauby's relationship with his wife starts to re-bloom, which really shows how the cliche that "love can conquer anything" is true. Inside, Bauby is in utter torment; he longs so much to perform the simple tasks he once took for granted, such as swallowing his food and bathing himself. Reading about the despair and embarrassment that Bauby feels really makes you think about the simple things in life that can be taken away so easily. There are little things we don't even notice, like the ability moving an eyeball, but when taken away, can cause so much pain.