Communication In The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

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In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Bauby's communication with the viewer throughout the film is restricted predominantley to internal thought due to his "locked-in" syndrome. Nothing that Bauby says after his stroke can be heard by outside persons. However, when Bauby speaks during the movie, the audience can understand it as if he has the ability to talk. This feature promotes a sort of dramatic irony where the audience is able to know what it is he is wanting to say and can then react to him, but the other characters cannot. Yet, the audience can make a distinction between what Bauby directs towards an outside person and what is meant to keep to himself. For instance, when Bauby was first allowed into a wheelchair, he rode around the hallways of the hospital. He caught his reflection …show more content…

In the beginning, when Bauby is first introduced to this new life for him, he expresses his thoughts differently than he does by the end. When he first realizes that he is in capable of speaking and expressing himself to the people around him, he is very hostile, angry and easily upset by people assuming things about him when they don't know him. For example, when a nurse turns off TV while Jean-Do was watching a soccer game, Jean-Do screams and curses the nurse in his thoughts. As the movie progresses, Bauby's joking personality is revealed more and shown, expressing how even though he is incapable of expressing himself, he can still have a fun time and be himself. Towards the end of the movie Bauby's serious personality is revealed and shown, along with his joking one, as his desire to write a book re-kindles. While writing the book and continuing living and adapting to his new lifestyle, he uses many expressions, thoughts, explanations and sayings that carry out a very responsible, mature and accepting man. As Jean-Do progresses with his physical state, his mental state moves along with

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