The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Themes

Throughout Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir of “locked-in syndrome,” the only resource at his disposal in the face of paralysis, isolation, and the end of his days as a wealthy, powerful Paris magazine editor is his mind. Through the power of his memories and the bravery of his imagination, Bauby manages to find freedom even in the confines of the “diving bell” he feels his body has become—and argues, through the memories, dreams, and…

Though Jean-Dominique Bauby suggests that freedom can be found in the power of the mind and the imagination even when all hope seems lost, he also uses The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to comment on the dual nature of “locked-in” syndrome. His mind is his only refuge, and it is frequently a pleasant one—but at the end of the day, Bauby is indeed locked into his own body, and the isolation that fact begets…

In spite of its grave subject matter and sprawling lyricism, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is in many ways a deeply funny book. The irony of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s situation is not lost on him—once a wealthy, charismatic man with the world at his fingertips, Bauby is now confined not just within a hospital, but within his own body. As Bauby uses humor and irony throughout the book to stave off pain, anger, and…