Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 10, 2023 February 3, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
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.
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.
Please wait while we process your payment