In chapter seven, the mysterious and cloudy garua finally lifts. The fog is gone and the captives and captors alike can finally see outside the windows. Everyone now spends their days looking out the window, off into the blue sky and bright sunshine. This garua lifts and disappears from the mansion, which then changes the setting and the characters. Two pairs of characters are particularly changed when the garua exits – Carmen and Gen, as well as Mr. Hosokawa and Roxane. Romantic love presents itself fully in these chapters. After many meetings in the dark of night, Gen finally begins to realize and accept his love for Carmen. Gen admits he has never experienced love for anyone in his life before Carmen, and he has difficulty viewing it as love at first. Once the garua lifts, the romantic interactions between Gen and Carmen intensify, as they both realize their feelings for one another. Gen may grow to understand his love for Carmen, but sometimes he struggles to understand the feelings of others. When Carmen points out to him that Roxane is in love with Mr. Hosokawa, Gen realizes that “the feeling was so utterly foreign to him that he had a hard time believing that others were experiencing it as well” (211). Through Gen’s own experiences of love and through the love of Roxane and Mr. Hosokawa, he …show more content…
Hosokawa and Roxane has been slowly building and growing over time, throughout the novel. Their high regard for one another eventually turns into romantic love that transcends the language barrier between them. It is only when the garua lifts that Roxane’s feelings become clear. Mr. Hosokawa has always loved Roxane, but it was not a romantic love. Now that the gaura has gone and things have changed, it is understood that he holds romantic love for Roxane. They become inseparable, being with each other at almost every moment. They have an understanding and knowledge of one another despite the fact that they cannot always converse between