Existentialism and paralysis
In a completely incidental way, this memoir's writer is in a situation that is a perfect symbol for the human experience—and he sees it. This man is in a situation that makes everything he writes into philosophically valid existentialism. Like existentialists, he battles with language. He struggles to communicate, which is a literal manifestation of an abstract feeling he knew for years as a writer and editor. Communicating is what he was about, and then suddenly, one day, he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to communicate again, at all, ever. The realization led to full-blown epiphany—and pain.
Communication games
Through a lengthy series of attempts to communicate, Bauby finally gains a new method to express himself, and it is a subtle symbol for the power of communication. He sees the full existential value of communication, and he realizes that trying to communicate in language is part of the human history. By arranging letters in a queue of their frequency in French, he can then select letters by blinking with his one good eye, and others can compile those letters and read his writing.
The eye sewn shut
Bauby's right eye waters uncontrollably, and the medical staff decide that it is medically necessary to sew that right eye completely shut. This, like his condition itself, is a literal symbol for something unique about his perception. He has lost depth by becoming paralyzed, and he loses depth perception when they close one of his eyes. It is a symbol for how little he really has in terms of human free will. He sees the earth from a completely new point of view because of his medical situation, and the eye signals that perception symbolically.
Family and romance
Through motif, we see a Solomonic reflection on the merit of life and existence. He mentions his wife, his ex-wife, that is, a woman named Sylvie who despite their differences has decided to be in community with him during this painful season of life. She visits him with their children. Beyond that, he thinks and talks about his friends a lot, and some of them continue to visit him which gives him hope. Perhaps the most touching aspect of this motif is when he reanalyzes his sacred romantic pain—the one who got away, perhaps the love of his life. This woman, Josephine, and he we were star-crossed lovers, but in light of his recent medical doom, what is the full weight of that loss?
Agony and isolation
This is a heroic tale, to be sure, but it is critical to honor his suffering; the memoirist is clear that it is suffering that he endures daily. He says he experiences chronic agony and loneliness that is emotionally jarring and unendurable. But what will he do? He cannot kill himself. He is doomed to survive, but just barely. Finally one day, he sees that he is a martyr of agony. He is a martyr of isolation. The book itself is evidence of this. He wonders throughout the book if perhaps this whole experience is evidence of an artistic God who is making his life into a symbolic martyrdom.
