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Butterflies
Mithra-Grandchamp is a racehorse who symbolizes the idea of missed opportunity and fateful chances. The horse was, according to a racetrack contact of Bauby and his fellow newsman Vincent, slated to win an upcoming race despite being the underdog—at odds of twenty-to-one. Eager to take advantage of the tip and earn a great payout, Bauby and Vincent collected a pot of cash from their coworkers and headed down to the racetrack, only to get sidetracked by a long, luxurious lunch and miss the chance to place their bets. Bauby and Vincent were forced to watch the race unfold—and to see Mithra-Grandchamp, as predicted, finish first by a five-length lead. In the years since the race, Mithra-Grandchamp has come to symbolize, to Bauby and Vincent, all the “lost opportunities” in their lives. Mithra-Grandchamp is a bittersweet symbol of “those small near misses” that one day amount to the shape a life takes.
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Mithra-Grandchamp Symbol Timeline in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The timeline below shows where the symbol Mithra-Grandchamp appears in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Twenty to One
...the track correspondent gave the newsmen a tip about a “guaranteed winner,” a horse called Mithra-Grandchamp, whose odds were twenty to one. The two men ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking...
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...forehead, and sits beside him. Bauby had, until today, forgotten all about the story of Mithra-Grandchamp—but now, he sees the horse as a larger metaphor for all the things he and...
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