Liberated Prisoner Jean Dominique Bauby was a successful middle aged man, editor of Elle magazine in Paris, when his entire life was knocked off course. He was taken over by locked in syndrome where he was trapped inside his own body, leaving his mind free. Though he was unable to escape his diving bell of a body, he was able to explore the entire world with his mind giving him the freedom of a butterfly. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was written entirely by Bauby. It posed as a challenge to convey exactly what he wished to say, but through the help of Claude Mendibil he was able to accomplish his book. Though the book is nonfiction, Thomas Foster's guide to interpreting literature can still help us read in between the lines. Foster’s …show more content…
First of all, one of his eyes is sewn shut so he is half blind. Secondly, he is unable to move and view things going on around him, so he is blinded from that. And lastly, he is blinded from the truth. To begin with his physical blindness, Jean-Do is blinded from his everyday life. Every time a sound comes from behind him, he is unable to swerve his head to acknowledge the noise. He has to wait until the object has come into view before he can comprehend what the object is. However, Foster would argue that this literal blindness has nothing to do with the actual meaning of Jean-Do’s blindness. Foster believes that he is blind from the truth more than any other type of blindness. In his chapter, “He’s Blind for a Reason” he quotes, “Blind to the the truth and eventually blinds himself” (203). When Jean-Do first enters the hospital, nobody tells him exactly what is going on, even though it affects him the most. Jean-Do says to the reader, “Of course, the party chiefly concerned is the last to hear the good news.” (4). The doctors have shielded Jean-Do from the truth since they are concerned with his mental condition and therefore they have blinded him. Eventually as Jean-Do’s learns more about his case, he learns that he no longer wants to inquire about it. He realizes that he is in the hospital, paralyzed, and that is it. He has now blinded himself from the truth just like Foster explained on page …show more content…
In Foster's, “Now Where Have I Seen Her Before?” chapter, Foster argues that in literature there is no original character, or at least personality. For example, it seems like a very simple character list for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly since the classic scenario is set up where a very sick person (Jean-Do) is able to make a huge accomplishment through the help of one extremely influential being (Claude). Since the author didn't preconceived these roles in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, we can assume that many authors received the idea of these roles in other literatures from real life experiences. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet, is referenced multiple times in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, since Jean-Do has an idea to rewrite the book in a female view. It seems to be ironic that the main character in The Count of Monte Cristo has only the ability to blink both eyes and is just as handicapped as Jean-Do. When Jean-Do describes the book he