Bel Canto Colonialism

In the novel Bel Canto, written by Ann Patchett, the author creates a diverse and multicultural environment in an enclosed setting. The tale chronicles the interactions between individuals from various backgrounds in a sundered world within a developing Latin American country, once colonized by a rich, European country. Many businessmen and political officials from all around the world gather in the home of the vice-president, Ruben Iglesias of physically, politically and economically unstable host country, in order to celebrate the birthday of a fellow Japanese businessman. Nonetheless, the celebration is cut short when the terrorist group La Familia de Martin Suarez, seeking to capture the inefficient President Masuda, overruns the building …show more content…
The novel speaks of colonialism and its effect on the colonized populace and the governance of a country subjected to colonialism. The colonizers, the Europeans, oppressed the Latin American, attempting to also oppress the prosperous culture that they have cultivated over the years. Through various images, the author demonstrates the many methods that the citizens of the host country utilize in order to cope with the oppressive, temporary visitors that entered their borders. The population of the country splits between the three major ways to cope with oppression. First there are people who attempt to imitate the oppressors. They repress their inner Latin American culture and take on the roles of the European. These individuals take upon an image of a typical European, collect European art and cook European food. This coping mechanism is termed the identification with the colonizers. However, this is not the only way that the population copes with the oppression. Additionally, many are not able to successfully repress their emotions, their state of conniption and their culture. Finally, the last method is the act of hiding from reality. The people who employ this method, hide from reality with invisibility and not voicing their concerns. Many also resort to drugs, alcohol and other addictive matters that alter their view of reality. In the novel, Patchett creates various characters that …show more content…
Patchett utilizes the vice-president of the host country, Ruben Iglesias, as a representation for the host country. Iglesias, as a member of the host country, was gravely affected by the evident split imposed on the populace of the host country. The vice-president, being a higher class citizen of the Latin American country, has never engaged in physical labor during his adult life until the incursion of the terrorists. Before, Ruben Iglesias would never clean, cook or even tend to his children. All he would ever do is work for the country. The split between the socioeconomic classes and the polarized gender roles instigated inadequate parenting in Iglesias's immediate family, and thus, the rest of the country's family systems. When the terrorists infiltrated his home, he was forced to partake in various, originally feminine, tasks, such as the edulcoration of the