How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"What the hell. It isn't like I'm so busy I can't tell him myself. Does he not speak English? Well, you'll translate. You're the only one of us around here who has a job now. Are there any languages you don't speak?" (3.141)
Yep, the translator's going to be popular around here. Lots of Bel Canto emphasizes that there are ways to communicate beyond language, but lots of other moments remind us that language sure is useful if you want to ask someone how to cook a chicken or negotiate between terrorists and the government or describe every last detail of how you're feeling. This statement Roxane Coss makes to Gen when she first wants to talk to Mr. Hosokawa is one of those times.
Quote #5
Mr. Hosokawa nodded. He spoke to her with great honesty, the kind two people use after a lifetime of knowing one another. But what was a lifetime? This afternoon? This evening? The kidnappers had reset the clocks and no one knew a thing about time anymore. Better this once to be inappropriate and honest as the burden of his guilt was tightening a string around his throat. (3.148)
The intensity of the terrorist takeover actually improves communication among the characters in Bel Canto: people are honest in ways they might not be at other times and places. So even though they have to use a translator, they're closer to real communication than they might be in real life.
Quote #6
The Japanese man [Mr. Hosokawa] would hum something and she would listen and nod and then, in a very quiet voice, she [Roxane] would sing it back to him. What a sweet sound. (3.182)
Ever met someone who knew all the same music as you? Doesn't matter if it's Taylor Swift or the Beatles—it can almost feel like you know them already. That works for Roxane and Mr. Hosokawa here, just after they've met. Though they can't speak the same language, they have a common language in music, and they can communicate in a deep way almost instantly because of it.