The Sea Inside: Post 2

Q: Compare and contrast The Sea Inside to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. What similarities and differences did you notice?
Similarities: both quadriplegics, both fantasized about death, both had many allusions, both men, both had families, both had an extreme opinion on their condition.
Differences: Believe it or not, I think that Ramon was more optimistic even though he was the one who wanted to die. Bauby just felt sorry for himself the whole time. But I think that Bauby had a greater respect for family than Ramon did.

Q: In your opinion, which is more powerful?
In my opinion, The Sea Inside was much more powerful. Maybe I think this just because it was a movie, but I still took away a stronger message. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly first talked about his condition, and then he complained about his condition for the rest of the book. He did slip into his writing some creative allusions that he had, but that was probably the only interesting part of that whole reading experience. I did not take away as strong a message as I did with The Sea Inside. The movie gave many different perspectives from different characters, and all arguments that took place had something that I agreed with. I still think that it is wrong to want to die, but sometimes I would be leaning towards Ramon's request because of his extreme perspective on what life is. I felt like I had wasted time reading The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, but after watching the movie I was slightly moved.