Colonizers In Bel Canto

Europe was a very powerful continent since the main settler colonies like Spain, Portugal, France and Great Britain were all European. As mentioned earlier, there was a clear division between the colonizers and the natives. The colonizers, who were Europeans, were very powerful and were seen as superiors by the natives and any other inhabitants. In Bel Canto, Europeans are somewhat also seen as superiors in a financial point of view. This is shown when the host country uses European cuisine like Russian caviar and French champaign since "Russian and French, Russian and French, as if that was the only way to prove prosperity". Russia and France are seen as successful and thriving countries by the South American host country which is similar
to the way the natives would see the colonizers. It is also said that Simon Thibault, the French ambassador, collects wine and that Victor Fyodorov, the secretary of commerce in Russia, has a passion for paintings. For this reason, Europe is once again associated with class, finesse and prosperity. Fyodorov also speaks of his grandmother's book of impressionist paintings which he refers to as he is confessing his love to Roxane Coss, the American opera singer. Once he revealed how he felt about Roxane, he tells her "It is a gift. Something to give to you". Fyodorov doesn't ask for Roxane's love in return. He just wanted to tell her the story of his grandmother's beautiful painting book and to declare his love for her. This demonstrates that in Bel Canto, the Europeans associate women to beauty, art and love but dismiss any chance of actual relationships. Although they're quite reputable, the European hostages are unable to help or mitigate the hostage taking. For example, Lothar Falken is the Vice President of a pharmaceutical company whose main sale is insulin. It is mentioned that "they had it everywhere, free samples of every variety of insulin just waiting to be given away, refrigerators full of endless, clicking glass vials there for the taking" but despite the enormous amount of insulin, Lothar is unable to help.