Noah Chochinov - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a memoir written by the former Editor-in-Chief of Elle magazine Jean-Dominique Bauby. It chronicles the events leading up to, and after December 9th, 1995, the day Bauby suffered a massive stroke which led him into a coma for 20 days. He woke up in the Berck hospital, and discovered that he was a victim of what is referred to as ‘locked-in-syndrome’.Yes it is as bad as it sounds, victims are literally prisoners in their own body, with functioning brains but the inability to move any part of their body but their eyes. No speech, impaired hearing, and no movement whatsoever. 

When Bauby woke up, they told him not only the severity of his condition, but also the unlikeliness of any significant recovery. As if this all wasn't enough, one of his eyes, the two remaining parts of his body that can function, showed signs of an infection that could be life threatening. Alas, one of his two eyes was sewn permanently shut. Bauby was left to ponder his predicament, only able to show signs of grief, pain, embarrassment, confusion, and the like, through the blinking of one eye. Remarkably, it was during this summer after his stroke that Bauby wrote the book. Impossible as this may sound it is true, he dictated the entire book, letter by letter to a speech therapist, only using the blink of his eye to do so. Together they created a way of communication by developing an alphabet consisting of the most commonly used letters in french at the beginning, and ending with the letters that are least used. For example: E-S-A-R-I are the first five letters of their alphabet, one blink means E, two blinks means S etc. Bauby would spend the night dictating chapters to himself, and organizing those chapters into specific sentences, those sentences into words, and words into letters so that when the time came to dictate his thoughts to the speech therapist, he was able to do so in the most efficient way possible. That being said, the most efficient way possible is the most painstakingly slow process that has ever been used to write a book. It was said to take about two minutes per word on average. Accordingly it is not a terribly long book, but the mere 137 pages are an outstanding accomplishment, and one that most people would not think possible.

After months and months of dictation by blinking, Bauby has given us the first piece of literature that gives a first person perspective of the trials and tribulations of those who are locked in. Their is not much plot to explain because it is mostly Bauby in his room in the hospital, having to deal with uncaring doctors, itches he cannot scratch, and friends and family he can barely respond to. The only escape from his imprisonment, and the monotony of reading about a hospital room are his memories of life before the stroke. As aforementioned Jean-Dominique Bauby was the Editor of Elle magazine. He was an eloquent and succesful man, with a family and big plans for the future. It is unimaginable to think of having an ordinary conversation with your father or your children one day, and the next day realizing that you will never do so again. To be as far away from grabbing on to your old life as you are from reaching the TV remote.

 I don’t believe that most people would or have responded to life in the way that Bauby did with his condition. The unfortunate truth is that most people would be pure ‘diving bell’, a dense unmoving mass slowly fading to the bottom of the sea. Bauby explains his reality as a diving bell but his imagination as a butterfly. He relies on vivid memories of travel and success, as well as new thoughts on his future novel to keep him fighting day-to-day. Furthermore, his novel is not merely a tragic tale of his misfortune, rather a celebration of the indefatigable human spirit. Gleaming proof that their are still amazing people in the world, and that their is more to life than our precious materialistic belongings, and the monotonous grind from nine to five that some people never break out of. To have the patience and persistence to write such a powerful novel, letter by letter, with the blink of an eye, is truly one of the most inspiring phenomenons  I have ever encountered. If ever you are looking for a motivational read, look no further. It convey’s a strong message to not sit around and feel sorry for yourself, regardless of the plethora of unfortunate circumstances one may find themselves in.  I feel as if this is epitomized early on in the book when Bauby is deciding what he should wear to be wheeled out to meet his family, and furthermore whether he should even care what he’s wearing because of the profoundly minimal effect it will have on peoples perception of him. He comes to the realization that maybe it doesn’t matter, but to let oneself dive into a reality where nothing matters is the beginning of giving up. He encapsulates this idea with the statement “If I must drool, I may as well drool in cashmere.”(25)