In a Latin American country that is unnamed to the reader, a birthday party held for the head of a major Japanese electronics company brings together a successful crowd to enjoy food, drinks and entertainment by none other than the most desired soprano, Roxanne Coss. The party had been held at the vice president’s home in the hopes of persuading Mr. Hosokawa to build a factory in their country. As the night progresses, and Ms. Coss finishes her performance, a “strong and passionate kiss” is followed by an intrusion of 18 terrorists. The target, the president of the unnamed country, has decided to abstain from the party to stay home and watch a highly anticipated episode of his favourite soap opera. With the discovery that the president is…
Patchett is very consistent in describing to the reader of how Bel Canto will end. She incorporates knowledge about past hostages saying that “no demands were ever met, or were ever honestly met. No one got away with the money…[but, ] [t]he question was only how much time it would take to wear them down, and how many people would be killed in the process” near the beginning of her novel to prepare the reader for what’s to come. But, she is cruel for letting the reader continue on to feel for her fictional characters. Patchett’s narrator summarizes the frustration felt by the reader; “[we] understand that these [are] extraordinary times, and if [the characters’] old life [were] ever restored to them, nothing would be the same”. We understand that the novel is fictional but we still don’t want to see our beloved characters die. Each hostage and terrorist grows from this experience by realizing that it’s okay to let your guard down, and that friendships can be made under the most unusual circumstances. Their lives have been changed and touched in no way that each could have predicted prior to attending Mr. Hosokawa’s birthday…