Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory, Imagination, and Freedom
Isolation vs. Communication
Resilience and Determination
Irony and Humor
Summary
Analysis
Once Bauby had been introduced to the wheelchair, he knew he was an “official quadriplegic”—he would not recover. He began to give up his “grandiose plans,” and in spite of the sadness of doing so, he felt a burden lifted off of himself—and noticed one lift from the shoulders of his friends, family, and other visitors. Bauby realizes now that though he’ll never walk, talk, or move normally again, there are small hopes for improvement: the blinking of his eyelids suggests that his nervous system has begun a very slow recovery. In a few years, he thinks, he may even expect to “wiggle [his] toes.” He hopes that his respiratory functions will soon return, and he’ll be able to breathe and perhaps even eat without the assistance of tubes and machines.
It was difficult, in the beginning, for Bauby to accept the truth of his fate. Now, though, he has more realistic expectations for what his new life might one day look like. He has resigned himself to being a quadriplegic, and has begun carving out smaller dreams for himself. This is not admitting defeat, but rather its opposite: it is renewed determination in the face of devastating news.
Themes
Bauby thinks of all the people he loves, and all the prayers they’ve dedicated to him across the world over the years. Many of Bauby’s friends travel widely, and they tell him often that they’ve prayed for him in places like chapels across France, temples in Nepal, and with holy men in Cameroon. He thinks, too, of his daughter, Céleste, whom he knows prays for him each night. Since the two of them fall asleep at roughly the same time, Bauby feels protected and “shield[ed] from all harm” by his daughter’s prayers especially.
Though the first half of this chapter is concerned with the tough reality of what Bauby can expect from his future, the second half is more hopeful and dreamlike. Bauby knows that a tough road lies ahead—but as he considers all the prayers people are putting out into the world on his behalf, he feels bolstered by the love and support of his friends and family. He may be physically isolated, but emotionally he is surrounded and held.
Themes
