Analysis Of Rwanda By Immaculeé Ilibagiza

In her novel, Immaculeé Ilibagiza shares her experiences of the Rwandan genocide. She wrote the novel to increase the awareness of the genocide and does so successfully by providing a detailed description of what she, as well as many others experienced during this horrific event. Immaculeé feels like God spared her life during the genocide, so she could pass on her story to the rest of the world, informing people of the truth behind the genocide. She wants to show others that by having faith, one can realize the true power that God has. The novel is not a book of facts regarding the Rwandan genocide. It does not provide an in-depth background on the subject, however, it’s not meant to. Instead, the novel describes the genocide from the perspective …show more content…
Immaculeé credits her survival entirely to God. “If I lost my faith, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to survive. I could rely only on God to help me fight (Ilibagiza 80).” Those who are not Catholic or do not believe in God might believe that Immaculeé only survived because of luck. They may not see that there is truth to her story as most non-believers see life as a science as opposed to a greater journey. In reading this book it is clear that Immaculeé has a biased view of the event. She tells the story based on her and her family’s experiences but does not touch on the view of the Hutu killers. She was not objective in her writing as she only focuses on the Tutsi point of view but neglects the thought process of those killing her people. The novel touches on many ethical issues that go against what I have learned in religion. The most obvious is killing your neighbours, which goes against the Ten Commandments. “I have killed 399 cockroaches…Immaculeé will make 400. It’s a good number to kill (xix)” Taking someone’s life is unjustifiable and is never the right thing to do. This ties in with the concept of treating your neighbours the way you want to be treated. We are taught to love our neighbours as well as our enemies as we are all sons and daughters of God. All these concepts relate back to respect. If we respect both ourselves and others, the world would be a better place. Immaculeé and her family followed these simple guidelines on an everyday basis. They truly believed that all people were equal and that no matter what tribe they were from, we all belong to the family of God. The Hutu killers ultimately lost their dedication to God and forgot His teachings which led to the cruel acts they committed during the