Summary
The next morning, Coss does not come down for her usual
morning practice. Hoskowa is asleep in the living room. Coss’s absence reminds
Kato that one day his life as an accompanist will be over, and he
will have to go back to being a businessman. As Kato begins to play
the piano, something surprising happens. Cesar, a young and unexceptional
terrorist, begins to sing. Everyone is struck silent by his immense
talent. Coss comes downstairs. She, too, is struck by his voice.
Cesar clearly hasn’t been trained, and when he is about to hit a
note Coss fears is too high and hard for him, she quickly stops
him from singing in order to prevent him from embarrassing himself.
Everyone cries “bravo,” but Cesar, believing he’s made
a fool of himself, runs outside and climbs up a tree to hide. Coss
sends Carmen to reassure him, but Cesar refuses to come down. Coss
asks Carmen if she would ask General Benjamin to allow Coss to go
outside to speak to Cesar. No hostages have ever been allowed outside. As
Carmen approaches Benjamin, he smells the lemon shampoo that Coss
has washed Carmen’s hair with. The lemon reminds him of his childhood
and his brother. Impetuously, he decides to let not just Coss but
all the hostages go outside.
The sensation of being outdoors overwhelms the hostages.
Coss talks to Cesar, and they agree that she will give him singing
lessons. Lothar Falken, a hostage who was once a runner, begins
running circles around the garden. Soon others follow him, enjoying
the first physical exertion in months.
Mendoza and Iglesias talk about the young terrorist Ishmael, who
is within earshot. Iglesias says that when the siege is over he wants
to adopt Ishmael, and Mendoza says he wants to give him a position
in his company. They sound like they are joking, but the narrator
says that they are also serious. In their hearts, the men consider
the orphan Ishmael a son. Ishmael knows he shouldn’t take such joking
seriously, but in his heart he believes what the men say. Father
Arguedas, who hears the conversation, thinks that the men shouldn’t
indulge in such fantasies, but he wishes their fantasies could come
true.
Analysis
The morning after Coss and Hosokawa sleep together for
the first time, a child, Cesar, comes into Coss’s life. While Cesar
is not truly the product of Coss and Hosokawa’s relationship, Coss
does adopt him in a figurative sense. She takes him under her wing
and promises to teach him to sing.
Cesar’s talent for singing, which has been hidden until
this point, reinforces the theme that beauty and longing and passion
exist in everyone. These qualities are easily lost, however, and
difficult to express in the first place. When they manage to come
to the surface, as when Cesar sings, it feels like something of
a miracle.
