Diving Bell #4

1. After reading Vegetable, respond to Bauby's statement: "I belonged on a vegetable stall and not the human race." Why do you think it is necessary for humans to put people into categories? Is our language so limiting in describing the world that we need a way to ourganize our thoughts?

I think it is necessary for humans to put people into categories because it helps them to explain people they do not fully understand and it makes them feel better than others when they are put in the better categories.

2. Bauby claims that, "Capturing the moment, these small slices of life...I hoard all these letters like treaure." What do you hoard and why?

I hoard my most beautiful and most simple possessions (like my books, my music, my candles, and my nick-knacks) by keeping them on display in my rooms that I can see them every day because, even though I would not be devastated if I lost them, it still comforts me to have all the materials that I am most fond of cluttered in one place.

3. Read Outing and respond to Bauby's statement: "I know who he is, but who is he really?" Is he getting any closer to understanding what makes people tick? Also, why will Bauby never tire of the smell of French Fries?

While Bauby may not be closer to understanding what makes people tick, he seems to understand that you can never really know a person until really spend some time with them on a personal level. Bauby will never tire of the smell of French Fries because it is a connection back to humanity and t the way his life used to be when he could eat things like French Fries.

4. Read Twenty to One. Bauby claims that, "the memory of that event has only come back to me now, now doubly painful: regret for a vanished past and, above all, remorse for lost opportunities." Do you ever look back on something in your life as a "small near miss"? Is it ever beneficial to have regrets?

I look back on many things as “small near misses” but I
Believe it is beneficial to have regrets because it helps you to make sure you don’t make many more “small near misses” in the future.

5. Read Duck Hunt and explain what Bauby means by the statement: "I must have butterfly hearing."

Bauby means that he is able to recognize his imaginative mind (his butterfly) and understand that it is always there, and know when it is growing.

6. Read Sunday. Why do you think Bauby dreads this day?

Bauby dreads this day because there is nothing for him to do to distract him from the painful reality of his condition.