The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This article is about a 58 year old man, Tony Nicklinson, who suffered from a stroke seven years ago. He has a condition called “locked-in syndrome” (LIS), a rare state where one’s mind is still intact but their bodies are paralyzed. Mr. Nicklinson communicates through an electronic board or a special computer. He claims that his life is dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable. With these negative thoughts constantly lingering within him, he believes that he has the right to die and his wife supports this crazy idea.

In the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby has the same condition. Although he is completely paralyzed with no hope of recovery, he’s able to move his left eyelid. This slight movement in his eye is very significant because it’s his one way of communication. With every blink, comes a step closer to spelling a word. Although there’s a huge shift in lifestyle for Jean-Do, he continued to, with patience, dictate words letter by letter. Every blink means something and he is able to create his own memoir. I believe that having Jean-Do’s family and friends motivation contributed to his accomplishments after the incident.
Jean-Do and Nickleson are going through similar struggles but the way that they deal with them is like night and day. The difference is that Jean-Do is able to accept his inabilities. The viewer is able to recognize that he accepts his illness when he laughs at the guys who made a joke when they came to hook up the telephone. With that being said, Nicklinson doesn’t seem to accept it because like I stated above, he believes that he has the right to die and is fighting in court about it.

I find it completely heart breaking that one (Mr. Nicklinson) would want to fight for the right to end his life. This shows that he cannot accept the life he is living due to the many restrictions in life. But regardless of how difficult life may be, I’m a firm believer that death should never be an option.