58 pages • 1 hour read
Jean-Dominique BaubyThe Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapter 14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “My Lucky Day”
This chapter is an ironically-titled vignette of one of Bauby’s unlucky days. The alarm on the machine that regulates his feeding tube has been beeping piercingly for half an hour. Sweat has unglued the tape that binds his right eye, causing his eyelashes to torturously tickle his pupil. The end of his urinary catheter has come undone and he is soaked in urine. He sings the lyrics to an old Henri Salvador song to soothe himself: “Don’t you fret baby, it’ll be all right” (57). The nurse comes and turns on the TV. It plays a commercial with a personal computer spelling out the question: “Were you born lucky?” (57).
Chapter 14 Analysis
Although Bauby spends much of the book reveling in the power of his imagination and of his dauntless spirit, the vivid description of suffering that characterizes this chapter reminds the reader that the pain and helplessness of his condition bear equal weight in his new existence. The sharp irony contained in the question “Were you born lucky?” after a description of a litany of unlucky occurrences showcases his eye for biting and dark humor.
