Bel Canto Theme of Exploration

Whether it happens at summer camp, on vacation, or in the pages of a book, maybe you've had the experience of discovering an entire new world to explore. That's what happens to almost everybody in Bel Canto: they find that crisis, art, and being stuck with an international cast of characters opens up something entirely new in their experience. They wind up exploring quite a lot, from new art forms to international friendships to a different experience of time to a new community formed of, ahem, terrorists and hostages. And what does it take for everyone to start exploring this strange and beautiful new world? Being stuck in one house. The old Irony Detector is getting a workout.

Questions About Exploration

  1. What does it take for the characters to start experiencing the crisis as the beginnings of exploration rather than simply an interruption in their regular lives? How do different characters experience that shift in different ways?
  2. How does having an international cast of characters affect the sense of exploration in the book? How would it be different if they were all from the same place?
  3. Do the terrorists experience a sense of exploration too, or is it just the hostages? If so, is their experience similar to or different from the experiences of the hostages? Or does it depend on the individual character?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

Exploring the interior worlds of art and emotion are way more important in Bel Canto than exploring the external world.

Every character in Bel Canto winds up exploring something. Nobody stays the same.