No demands were ever met, or were ever honestly met. No one got away with the money and a handful of comrades liberated from some high-security prison. The question was only how much time it would take to wear them down, and how many people would be killed in the process.
From the beginning, the reader is alerted that the terrorists’ attempts will be a failure. The clear minded characters realize that no matter what they ask for, their demands will never be meet simply because the state did not care enough to fulfill them. What was certain however is that the whole situation will end badly for some of the characters. Death was inevitable and the only thing the characters could try to do was to minimize the number of people who were going to be killed. In a sense, the characters didn’t have another choice but to wait and see who was going to die.
He understood that these were extraordinary times, and if their old life was ever restored to them, nothing would be the same.
Most of the characters kept in mind that the situation they were in was exceptional and so they tried to take advantage of it as much as possible. The time spent with the terrorists made the captives realize what is really important in life and make them analyze their life choices and how they all had fallen into a comfortable life that became boring and uneventful. For some of them, going back to the life they used to have will be impossible because their way of thinking about life changed as well. While the novel doesn’t give any information regarding the lives of the hostages after the terrorists have been killed, it is alluded that transitioning to a normal life would not be easy for them.
He realized now he was only just beginning to see the full extent to which it was his destiny to follow, to walk blindly into fates he could never understand. In fate there was reward, in turning over one’s heart to God there was a magnificence that lay beyond description. At the moment one is sure that all is lost, look at what is gained!
Many hostages felt blessed to be captives and to live in the same house for a few months with other people. The only exception is Thilbaut whose wife was let go while he had to remain a hostage. The reason for why the hostages felt blessed to be captives was because they were let to live a relatively normal life. They were aware of the fact that they could be killed any moment but their captivity also meant that they were out of the public eye for a while which permitted them to follow their dreams and give in to their desires. Inside the manor, they were able to form connections with other people, to focus on what’s important and to go back to a more natural state, to appreciate the little things that make life worth living.
