Bel Canto

Content Warning: The novel recounts a hostage situation with its accompanying psychological stress. It also contains scenes of graphic violence. The term “terrorist” is used throughout to describe the group that takes the hostages, following the author’s lead. The novel invokes stereotypes about Indigenous peoples, and their role as terrorists here is one of these stereotypes. The novel also refers to sexual harassment.

At first, Mr. Hosokawa appears to be a stereotypical “company man.” He works long hours without complaint, spends most of his time away from his family, and devotes himself wholly to his company. The fact that the other characters in the book unfailingly refer to him as “Mr. Hosokawa” gestures to his innate formality and unquestioning acceptance of the social hierarchy. However, the revelations about his lifelong love of opera serve to humanize him, as does his attachment to his employee, Gen Watanabe, and his emerging love for Roxanne Coss. While he initially loves her for her talent—he has listened to recordings of her singing many times over before meeting her—he gradually begins to love her for who she is. He is both a round and dynamic character.

His devotion to opera is clear from the outset. Mr. Hosokawa finds opera to be more real than the life he notionally experiences: “True life was kept safe in the lines of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin while you went out into the world and met the obligations required of you” (5).