I'm (finally!) writing the crisis scene in my W.I.P. I know how it should go, except for two details, which I'm asking the forum's opinion on now. Here's the situation: My heroine has been taken hostage by a Communist terrorist cell in 1980s West Germany (think Red Army Faction redux). At first they think she's a real spy and torture her for information. She holds out, because, frankly, she has no information to give. Eventually, unbeknownst to her, they learn she isn't with any governmental agency, U.S., or German, she's just a private citizen who tried to free an old friend the terrorists had kidnapped before. They decide it'd be useful to break her anyway, partly for personal reasons and partly to raise ransom money. They tell her they have her husband, my hero (a lie, but they convince her of it using an object stolen from him). They say he's close to death from the torture he's undergone, and he's brokenhearted, convinced she went spying in the first place because she wanted to run away with the old friend. This drives her to such desperation, that she breaks and tells them who she's working for and agrees to read a prepared statement pleading for a large ransom for her husband. As a "reward," the terrorists promise to take her to him. But first, they're going to clean her up. They've learned he adores her long, thick hair. She thinks they're going to wash and brush it; instead, they hack it off and send it off with the videotape to show they mean business: the ransom is really for her, and if it's not paid, it'll be her neck. So, first question: Would it be more effective as a scare to the husband (who, as I said, is not in captivity) to have the hair be clean? Or should it remain dirty? If it's dirty, it will point up the miserable conditions she's being held in, and raise his alarm and sympathy. If it's clean, he's more likely to recognize it as hers, and be taken back to all it represents to him, also leading to alarm and sympathy. What do you think?
Second, related question: After my heroine has compromised herself, would it be more cruel for the terrorists to a) lie and tell her sorry, too late, your husband died, the sacrifice of your integrity was for nothing, or b) admit the truth and say, ha-ha, we never had him, your sacrifice was for nothing? The former might make her feel better about losing her hair, because he'll never see her without it. The latter might tell her who stole the hero's personal possession before I want her to know it for sure. (Either way, I'm being really mean to her, which is the idea.)
It would probably be most convenient to prepare her to have her hair washed and whack it off before the first drops of water fall. No sense in letting her actually get clean. I have very long hair of which I am quite fond, and my husband fonder. If, however, I learned my husband had died under torture, my hair would be the farthest thing from my mind. I certainly wouldn't feel comforted. (Oh, thank goodness he's dead; he'll never have to know I have short hair now.) '
I don't think it will make a difference. If it includes some skin tissue, implying she's been partially scalped but still alive (maybe they arrange a proof of life communication) that may escalate it. Cutting hair is usually painless and can grow back. Fingers, toes and ears do not. Actually, sending a few of her manicured/polished fingernails might get the additional terror you are hoping for.
2 - question depends how you want to leave her feeling - hopeful or widowed. 1 - I'd maybe clean it. But I wouldn't focus on - at least they're keeping her clean. And his reaction depends on how much you've made of the hair and/or her beauty. He might see it as a humiliating strike against her pride. I'm recalling an incident in the movie The Great Race where a torturer advances on Keenan Wynn with a red hot poker and he flinches and says - "Not the mustache."
There’s something quite sinister about washing the hair, only to hack it off. However, that seems more in keeping for serial killers than these sorts of characters. Or perhaps more for a Frank Booth type psycho. On the other hand, wet hair is easier to cut so I’m with @Catriona Grace on that one.
Thanks, everyone, for weighing in. Yes, as @peachalulu mentions, a lot has been made of her hair before this. Her husband has told her it's the first physical thing about her he fell in love with and he's begged her to never cut it. She would be devastated for his sake, as long as she knows/believes he's alive. She might even believe that, assuming he really is dying of torture, the shock of seeing her shorn would push him into the grave. This emotional reaction is more likely considering the long session of torture and interrogation she's just gone through. Just a note: These terrorists have a practice of kidnapping people in order to extort ransom and/or to achieve their political ends. It's their custom to send the loved ones a "token" to show how serious they are. For one victim it was his ring finger with the ring still on it. For the friend whom my heroine was trying to free, it was his priceless 1801 violin bow, broken to pieces. And now, my heroine's hair. Having mulled over your responses, I think I may split the difference. I may have them dump pitchers of cold water over her as she sits bound in the interrogation chair. This will humiliate her further. As @GeoffFromBykerGrove says, it will make her hair easier to cut. It will also surface a clue that she and the other captive(s) will be moved soon. (Not a good feel, since she knows what happens to Red terrorists' hostages when they're taken over the border--- think of Hanns Martin Schleyer). They'll begin to hack when she thinks they're about to apply the shampoo. As for what they tell her about her husband, I think I'll have her beg them not to cut her hair off, pleading it would kill him to see her like that. At which point they can say, ha-ha, too late, he's dead already. This will bring her to the lowest possible point, since it was only to save his life that she betrayed whom she was working with.
What it might affect is that, if it's really skanky, he might be in denial that it's really hers. But would the terrorists be thinking that far ahead? I doubt it.
