Comparative Essay Example: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and Tragedy and Utopia by Michael Ignatieff

Needs aren’t universal. Society will never have the same needs. This is because needs are relative and historical. In Bel Canto,  we see a community being born. This causes most of the hostages to enjoy the presence of the terrorists. The hostages form a community, thus making everyone have the same needs; This causes the hostages to forget about the situation they are in. In “Tragedy and Utopia,” Michael Ignatieff explains the importance of needs and how collective needs can take away from others. He further gives the example of communists failing to perfect the welfare state and that the welfare state cannot fulfill liberty and solidarity. Both of these texts reveal that collective needs make people lose their freedoms. 

Bel canto shows how the hostage’s collective needs caused a loss of freedom. The hostages forget their need for freedom and they form relationships with the terrorists to suit their needs of solidarity. We see this when Ann Patchett writes, “Today, Ishmael, who was regularly humiliated in soccer, had set up the chess set on a low table near the piano and played with Mr. Hosokawa.” (Patchett 185) This quote shows how the hostages are regularly socializing with the terrorists, furthering their fulfillment of solidarity. As Ignatieff explains, the welfare state of needs cannot fulfill liberty and solidarity. At the end of Chapter 10, we read about how Hosokawa died trying to save Carmen. Hosokawa had a happy family in Japan, yet he died trying to save one of the people that took him hostage in the first place. One major theme we see in Bel Canto that caused Hosokawa’s death, the society being created, and even Gen and Roxanne’s marriage, is Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is causing the characters to form positive relationships with the terrorists instead of thinking of different ways to escape their situation. “He was sure that Gen and Roxane had married for love, the love of each other and the love of all the people they remembered.” (197) Gen and Roxanne hadn’t married for love, rather due to Stockholm Syndrome. Both of them experienced the same pain and they can relate to each other. They both unnecessarily went through tragedies with fake relations and this caused them to lose the life and freedom they had before. 

Tragedy and Utopia show how collective needs cause people to lose freedom. Michael Ignatieff talks about how needs are relative and historical, and it is impossible to identify needs for everyone. Ignatieff states, “It is difficult enough to define human need in terms of basic necessities. These are, after all, relative and historical.” (Ignatieff 11) Throughout page 3, Ignatieff explains how people deceive themselves about their needs and wants. Because needs are distinct for everybody, deciding collective needs for society is abuse. At the end of page 3, Ignatieff says that doctors defining the needs of their parents, social workers administering the needs of their patients, and parents defining the needs of their children are all warrants of abuse. Ignatieff also talks about whether societies can ever reconcile freedom and solidarity. “The most common criticism of modern welfare is precisely that in treating everyone the same it ends up treating everyone like a thing.” (17) The theme of solidarity causes people to treat each other like things instead of with respect. Treating others with respect comes from treating others differently. Everyone has different qualities, so everyone will be different. Treating everyone the same will never resolve the issue of liberty. Societies that have marched under Marx’s banner have always turned out to be disastrous for liberty. 

One may argue that solidarity causes people to gain freedoms, due to the fact that people can work together to fight for their freedoms. This may be made an argument due to the fact that in Bel Canto, the society they created led to happiness, relationships, and love. However, both Ignatieff and Patchett include points in their texts that contradict this belief. We see in Bel Canto, that although they form relationships inside the mansion, they are still trapped for months. Also, they develop Stockholm Syndrome, which leads to the society deciding that they need to stay inside the mansion instead of trying to go back to their lives. This also leads to deaths and marriages occurring. In Tragedy and Utopia, Ignatieff explains that the welfare state sends conflicting messages. The welfare state is set up so that everyone is the same, but everyone is different. Treating everyone differently leads to freedoms and respect being shown to each other. 

Ignatieff and Patchett both explain that collective needs lead to people losing freedoms. In Bel Canto, the hostages experience Stockholm Syndrome and they forget about their current status. They create a community with the terrorists and they never want to leave. In Tragedy and Utopia, Ignatieff explains how needs are relative and historical and that defining one’s needs is warranted for abuse. Both of these texts strengthen the idea that collective needs leads to loss of freedom.