There
are situations that make us behave different from what we are accustomed to,
for example in an event of happiness, danger, hunger or anxiety we may find
ourselves acting in a manner that is questionable on normal conditions. The
above situation is what Ann Patchett depicts in her piece Bel Canto. Although
one can deduce other themes from the piece Bel Canto, Patchett confirms her
main aim was to explore the concepts that individuals act differently when
forced out of their normal lives. This situation according to Patchett creates
an opportunity to view the world in a different and new way. BelCante creates a
situation where the characters are forced to live for the moment since their
lives are in danger and the condition is uncertain as death could come anytime.
The following text is going to see how some of the characters Gen and Carmen in
Patchett'sBelCante come to see the world they have been living, in a new way.
The
situation laid down by Patchett shows terrorists and hostages moving from the
hostile normal relationship that exists during such attacks to a group of two
opposing sides that crave for friendship and love. However, the craving for
love and friendship among them is not by choice but because of the situation,
they have been presented too, that of danger and death. According to Patchett,
she gives an ideology that daily life perspectives constrain people and prevent
them from living passionately. They are forced to put aside the thoughts of
death, vulnerability, and loss. They behave in a mute, calmly, and
conventionally way, but once the danger is present to them and life afterward
is uncertain, they begin to view the world in a new way.
Carmen
character in BelCante depicts the above situation in the following way: it is
obvious that she would not be in the terror group were it not from the
persuasion of the generals and her per being poor. If she had more options, she
would not have chosen to be in a terror group. Carmen does not like what she is
doing at the terror act moment, as she does not advocate for killing and
neither does she like pointing guns at people (10.17). Carmen character shows
how life becomes about exploration and discovery once circumstances get stacked
against you. In her present she gets to see the world in a new way, she
discovers the beauty of music (5.205) makes friends with Roxane and she
discovered she actually shared love for Gen. Carmen is shown as an intelligent,
likable, and kind girl when she puts the gun down.
Another
character who gets to see the world in a new way is Gen Watanabe. He is shown
as a likable guy who is intelligent and polite. In BelCante he undergoes a
process of general transformation, he experiences love for the very first time
because of the difficult situation and art. Because of the terror situation the
groups needs an interpreter and Gen is chosen as he knows the languages, he
gives emotion to whatever language he uses making the situation a life
experience for the victims and the negotiators. In the process of interpreting,
Gen gets to realize a new world. He gets to experience his inner emotions that
he has never felt before and for the first time he feels brand new and see the
world around him in a completely different way.
He (Gen) had never said I love you to either his
parents or his sisters. He had not said it to any of the three women he had
slept with in his life or the girls in school with whom he had occasionally
walked to class. It simply had not occurred to him to say it and now on the
first day of his life when it might be appropriate to speak of love to a woman,
he would be declaring it for another man to another woman (7.132).
He shares his new ideology with the
terrorist and particularly Carmen. As the piece continues this new discovery
and sharing of inner feeling by Gen, blossoms into love between Gen and Carmen.
Gen starts realizing the new world when he was translating to Roxane about
Fyodorov's confession of love to her. In the mid of translation, he was
thinking of the kiss he has just had with Carmen.
Both
Gen and Roxane character in the end also shows a journey where they have
changed to view the world in a completely new way. They get married in Italy
almost immediately after the hostage crisis ends. It is an unexpected act since
they had just both lost people they had loved passionately. However, the event
shows how a situation that disrupts normal lives can cause huge changes. Both
Roxane and Gen respected each other but losing people they loved and going
through the hostage crisis make them act in this extraordinary manner. To
others, it might not make sense but to Gen and Roxane, after everything they
have been through, they see the world in a completely different manner.
Works Cited
Patchett,
Ann. "Bel canto." LettreInternationale-Ediţia română62
(2007): 87-93.
