How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The felt-covered hammers tapped the strings gently at first, and the music, even for those who had never heard the piece before, was like a memory. From all over the house, terrorist and hostage alike turned and listened and felt a great easing in their chests. (4.105)
Music doesn't need words or even an opera singer with great nonverbal communication skills to give people a common experience. When Kato starts playing the piano for the first time after the accompanist dies, everybody has the sensation that they're revisiting a shared memory—even the ones who have never heard of the Chopin piece he's playing. The moment really reinforces the idea that music on its own provides a way for people to understand and communicate with each other.
Quote #8
When one of them [Roxane or Mr. Hosokawa] had something to say they would call to Gen, but what was surprising was how rarely they needed him. He was a comfort to her. In the absence of language, she believed that he agreed with her completely. She would hum a little of the scores quietly so that he knew what she was looking at and then they would look at the pages together. Mr. Hosokawa could not read music but he accepted that. He did not speak the language of the libretto, the singer, or the host. He was beginning to feel more at ease with all he had lost, all he didn't know. Instead, he was astonished by what he had: the chance to sit beside this woman in the late afternoon light while she read. Her hand brushed his as she set the pages down on the couch between them, and then her hand rested on top of his hand while she continued to read. (5.197)
Here Bel Canto comes out and says what it's been hinting at all over the place: you don't need language to communicate, or to find community with someone through music. You don't even need to be skilled in the nonverbal communication of an art form like opera or experienced in reading music. You can connect through the experience of the music itself, whether you're the singer or the listener.
Quote #9
Carmen wished that she could see inside his [Gen's] mind. She wondered if it would look crowded with words, compartments of language carefully fitted on top of each other. Her own brain, by comparison, would be an empty closet. He could refuse her and what would be the harm in that? She wouldn't have anything less than what she had now. All she had to do was ask. (5.206)
Let's get one thing straight: Bel Canto isn't dissing language, even if it does spend a lot of time emphasizing that there are other ways to communicate. Carmen first approaches Gen because she knows that learning to read and write in different languages will make her life much richer. Language has a lot of power in Bel Canto as a way for people to communicate and form relationships, even if it's not the only way to do that.