How does the passage below participate in and illuminate the themes of Bel Canto? Analyze its
language closely as you build your argument.
Cesar had his lesson in the morning, and no matter how hard he begged them to go outside,
everyone sat down and listened. He was improving so quickly, even the other boys knew that what
they were seeing was more interesting than television. He didn’t sound a thing like Roxanne
anymore. He was finding his own depth. Every morning, he unfolded his voice before them like a
rare jeweled fan; the more you listened, the more intricate it became. The crowd assembled in the
living room could always count on the fact that he would be even better than he had been the day
before. That was what was so astonishing about it. He had yet to show the slightest hint of finding
the edges of what he was capable of. He sang with hypnotic passion and then with passionate lust.
How impossible it seemed, so much voice pouring out of such an average boy. His arms still hung
useless at his side. When Cesar released his final note, they were raucous, stamping their feet
and whistling. “Hail, Cesar!” they called, hostage and terrorist alike. He was their boy.
There was not a man or woman there who did not acclaim his greatness.
