Paul Rusesabagina An Ordinary Man Analysis

Around eight hundred thousand people were killed during the Rwandan genocide in 1942. Paul Rusesabagina, author of An Ordinary Man, sheltered and saved the lives of over twelve hundred would-have-been victims. The following quotes are important pertaining to the plot of the story and the challenges that the author faced. “We are a nation that loves to take people into our homes. I suppose our values are very much like the Bedouin of the Middle East, for whom sheltering and defending strangers is not just a nice thing to do but a spiritual imperative” (Rusesabagina 12). “A sad truth of human nature is that it is hard to care for people when they are abstractions, hard to care when it is not you or somebody close to you. Unless the world community …show more content…
Unless the world community can stop finding ways to dither in the face of this monstrous threat to humanity those words Never Again will persist in being one of the most abused phrases in the English language and one of the greatest lies of our time” (Rusesabagina 195). Towards the end of the book, Paul talked about what it feels like to be apart of a group. He said the feeling of freedom and acceptance in a group is addictive because deep inside people are lonely. Once they are in a group, they would do anything to stay and preserve that feeling of being wanted. It is then up to the uninvolved people to be brave and take action. This quote is important because unless ordinary people can find the strength and willpower to help complete strangers, events like these will keep happening and the words Never Again will be meaningless. Paul sheltered over 1,200 Tutsi and Hutu refugees in his hotel and used every resource he had to his advantage to save the lives of these innocent people. He could have chose to save himself and his family but instead, he was selfless and decided to stay and help even though it put his own life in