Hostage

Status: Completed

In the middle of the night in 1997, Doctors Without Borders administrator Christophe André was kidnapped by armed men and taken away to an unknown destination in the Caucasus region. For three months, André was kept handcuffed in solitary confinement, with little to survive on and almost no contact with the outside world. Award-winning cartoonist Guy Delisle recounts André's harrowing experience in Hostage, a book that attests to the power of one man's determination in the face of a hopeless situation. Delisle tells the story through the perspective of the titular captive, who strives to keep his mind alert as desperation starts to set in. Delisle conveys the psychological effects of solitary confinement, compelling us to ask ourselves some difficult questions regarding the repercussions of negotiating with kidnappers and what it really means to be free.