The Diving Bell and the Butter Fly #1

1. What is "locked-in syndrome?" 'Locked-in syndrome' is when the "brain stem [is] out of action" and the patient is "paralyzed form head to toe, [but with the] mind intact, [he] is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move." One might consider Bauby's condition a prison because he can't leave, he can't communicate, he is trapped. The significance of the butterfly is that it is Bauby's only means of escape. With his butterfly, his imagination and memories, he can go into his past, or anywhere in time or space , in his mind because it is the one part of his body that he is not trapped in.

2. What is Bauby's "frightening truth"? Bauby's "frightening truth" is that he will always be in a wheelchair. "'You can handle the wheelchair," said the occupational therapist, with the smile intended to make the remark seem like good news, whereas to my ears it had the ring of a life sentence. In one flash I saw the frightening truth." 

3. I think Bauby should measure progress in how much he does each week. He should meaure moving from a bed to a wheel chair as progress. At least he'll be able to move around, rather than just lying in bed for the rest of his life. Progress does not come quickly, and it is not easy. It happens little by little, slowly over time, with hard work. I think Bauby ends the chapter "Prayer," with the phrase "I set out for the kingdom of slumber with this wonderful talisman, which shields me from all harm," because his daughter's prayer for him, protects him from his own dark thoughts, but also harmful thoughts of others, and he hopes that her prayer, will protect him from his condition getting any worse, as he sleeps.