When Words Aren't Enough

Utilizing symbolism, emotion, reality, and other techniques explored in Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I was able to fully dive into The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. By gaining a further understanding of what authors mean to convey and how they affect the text from Foster's book, I physically understood the hardships that were endured by Bauby. As Fosters wrote, "So then maybe words do matter. In works of literature no less. Who knew?" (133). By saying this, Foster means that the words and actions authors use aren't pointless. All words create different effects and I was able to see this in Bauby's chapters, which seemed insignificant, but really did have a meaning. After reading both books, I was able to enter the world of Jean-Dominique, his one blinking eye, and understand how he changed his life.

Symbolism was a key element in Jean-Dominique Bauby's story and he employed this through the physical actions of others and his mental emotions. The ways that Bauby started out powerful and boastful transitioned to being more thankful and concerned about others. As Bauby says, "Had I been blind or deaf, or does it take the harsh light of disaster to show a person's true nature?" (83). This symbolism is exceptionally expressive because it shows the overall changing of Bauby and how he realized how lucky he was to be alive.

In this story, words really do matter, however speaking less through blinking meant more than anything he ever said when he was alive. The way that Bauby was only able to communicate through his left eye and nothing else, really affects a reader. If Bauby suffered a stroke, recovered, apologized to people, and lived the same as before, readers wouldn't be as affected. However Bauby didn't recover and he spent the rest of his life trying to communicate through blinking and writing a book to tell people about his transformation was incredibly symbolic and influential. While employing the symbolism through words, Bauby's mind and his imagination were able to soar. "My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly" (Bauby 5). Throughout the story, Bauby was able to stop pitying himself and start taking action to turn his life around. This was really compelling. Even though Bauby wasn't able to convey this to the people around him very well, he did this through his book and made the words he chose profound.

Without reading Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I would have never picked up little elements utilized in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Geography played a role in symbolizing the transition from being a powerful man who had all he wanted visiting Lourdes looking down on the disabled people there to visiting again and actually being one of the afflicted. The shift of political status also stood out to readers