How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Never in a lifetime would Gen have come to her [Roxane] on his own. Never would he find the courage to express his own sympathies and remorse, in the same way that Mr. Hosokawa would not have the courage to speak to her even if his English had been perfect. But together they moved through the world quite easily, two small halves of courage making a brave whole. (3.123)
Early on in the hostage crisis, Patchett gives us a chance to see community in action. Gen and Mr. Hosokawa find courage together they couldn't have found alone. Yep, that's pretty much foreshadowing what happens for all the characters in the book: they find courage for tough circumstances by becoming a community. Cue the soft lighting and gentle flute music. We're about to see a whole community come together.
Quote #2
They were all at the piano, Roxane Coss and Mr. Hosokawa and Gen and Simon Thibault and the priest and the Vice President and Oscar Mendoza and little Ishmael and Beatriz and Carmen, who left her gun in the kitchen and came and stood with the rest. All of the Russians were there, and the Germans who had spoken of a revolt, and the Italians, who were weeping, and the two Greeks who were older than the rest of them. The boys were there, Paco and Ranato and Humberto and Bernardo and all the rest, the great and menacing hulk of boy flesh that seemed to soften with every note. Even the Generals came. Every last one of them came, until there were fifty-eight people in the room, and when he finished Tetsuya Kato bowed his head while they applauded. (4.107)
This is one of the key moments where Bel Canto is telling us that community is possible among everyone in the building, whether they're terrorists or diplomats, and no matter what languages they speak. It's Kato's piano music that brings the whole community together here in a moment that shows us what art can do, even if it's not the showier type. (Opera, we're looking at you.)
Quote #3
"No one is leaving! Dinner for fifty-eight, is that what they expect? I will not lose one pair of hands [of those who are already in the kitchen], even if the hands belong to the very valuable translator. Do they think we're going to do this every night, every meal? Do they think I'm a caterer? Has she chopped the onions yet?" (6.233)
On a casual glance, Simon Thibault's bossiness the first time he cooks dinner doesn't exactly look like it's about community. But we're not the casual type here—well, at least where this quotation is concerned. Making a good dinner for everyone there turns out to be an experience of community-building for Simon, Ruben Iglesias, Gen, and even some of the terrorists. Plus, they're cooking for fifty-eight. That's everybody. And that's what community's all about.