The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Here, Bauby introduces his speech therapist, Sandrine, whom he refers to as a guardian angel. He reveals that, while most of his friends have adopted his special alphabet system, Sandrine and a female psychologist are the only ones among the medical staff who use it. The majority of the staff attempt to divine his attempts at communication through his limited facial expressions, winks, and nods, while certain cruel others slip out of the room while pretending not to see his attempts at communication. These facts make Sandrine’s twice-daily appearance an especially comforting respite which “at once sends all gloomy thoughts packing” and makes the “invisible and eternally imprisoning diving bell” of his condition seem “less oppressive” (40).

Sandrine does marvelous and laborious work as a speech therapist, which Bauby calls an art. He likens her assistance with his enunciation of the alphabet on his birthday to a lovely present, although the exercise was exhausting and his voice did not feel like it was his own. Sometimes, his loved ones call during his time with Sandrine, and he catches the fragments of life that they offer like one might catch a butterfly. His daughter Céleste, who will be nine in five months, tells him about her adventures with her pony. Bauby then wonders if the silence he is forced into takes a toll on his loved ones. When his partner Florence asks if he is there, he himself wonders if he is.