Question H

[Jonetta]

Helga Rosen Shuler is an Israeli envoy dispatched to assist with the hostage negotiations in Kazbekistan but she’s suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer’s and hasn’t told anyone yet, including her personal assistant. She uses tools to help herself during memory lapses, which occurred throughout the crisis. What insights did you learn about the disease and it’s impact? Did the author get it right? Should Helga have asked for help or did she manage it well enough?

[Anita]

Her coping machinations were great, but even with being able to cover she should not have been there. She was aware that she was not operating at the level she should have been to conduct negotiations with terrorists, or even represent her government. She really should have told her government and recused herself. The lives of the passengers were at stake.

[Sharon]

From what I've seen, it is difficult for anyone to admit that they have Alzheimer's. I was impressed that she found a way to remember what she needed to remember. Also, if I read this correctly, her assistant suspected what was wrong, even if Helga didn't admit it. He covered for her when necessary.

Maybe Helga should have asked for help, but she did manage. If she had asked her government for help, she would have been out and her need to see Stan would not happen. I love the way this played out in the story. In real life, her assistant would have said something to their superiors as soon as s/he had an inkling that something was off.

In the real world, life isn't as black and white as it might be in fiction.

[Jonetta]

You’re right about how those experiencing early onset of Alzheimer’s disease try to hide it. Several of my relatives suffered from the disease and I recall how my dear aunt, younger than my mother, tried so hard to pretend she wasn’t failing to remember simple stuff. My Mom, who was her best friend, couldn’t get her husband and children to acknowledge it until it got very obvious.

No, Helga shouldn’t have gone on that trip but her keen mind thought she could handle it with her notebook. Stress tends to heighten the level of the episodes so she was unprepared for that in Kazbekistan. Her assistant Desmond, who we learned was really an operative, needed her to go so he was prepared to assist. That’s why he let her know up front that he “knew her secret.”

[Lauren]

She was torn between her pride in not wanting to admit her memory problems and her duty. She made the right choice in the end.

To a certain extent, this was a useful plot device. As Desmond was able to use her memory issues to reveal the truth about the terrorists' plans.

[Jonetta]

And she was able to take responsibility for revealing classified info and could step down. Now that I think about it, Desmond may have used her situation for that purpose.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "Now that I think about it, Desmond may have used her situation for that purpose"

That is the impression that I got from the situation when he informed her of the terrorists' plans.

[Jonetta]

Like it was his plan all along?

[Anita]

That was a part I just didn't get: Why couldn't Desmond tell Max and the SEALs that the hijackers planned to blow the plane? I thought they were all there to prevent the passengers being killed. I get that the death and destruction would have worked against the terrorists, but I just can't imagine the Israeli government approving of that.

[Jonetta]

It was classified and he was told specifically that he couldn’t share it.

[Anita]

That makes no sense. They basically condemned these people to die.

[Sharon]

It didn't make sense to me either. I thought it had something to do with the government's policy of not paying a ransom.

[Lauren]

In real life, this would not have happened. Saving lives from terrorists would have been the top priority for the Israeli government. It is a rather contrived plot device to justify Helga's involvement.

In fact, for me, the inclusion of Helga's character in the terrorist plot made no sense. She did not really seem to have any function in the negotiations and her presence is basically just to introduce the connection to Stan's mother and Helga's family in WWII.

[Robin]

Lauren, I was thinking the same thing about Helga's role in the negotiations. As far as I could tell, she really didn't do anything. Max called her near the end of the story, asking her to approve a military strike against the hijackers since the top brass had decided to wait 24 hours not wanting people to think attacking the plane was retaliation for the bombing at the hotel. Would a negotiator have that much power?

[Lauren]

Robin wrote: "Would a negotiator have that much power?."

Definitely not, and especially not an envoy from another country.
What was she even doing there? So what if the terrorists demanded that the Israelis release a prisoner? That does not warrant an envoy to a US military action.