Ramon: District 9 and Genocide as a Whole

The 2009 film directed by Neill Blomkamp, District 9, is a futuristic representation of genocide in a more humorous way than the other films we have seen in the course. I am not saying that the extermination of the aliens from Johannesburg is a funny situation, but Blomkamp purposefully placed the issues of genocide in this situation in order to remove a bit of human emotional attachment to the persecuted aliens. When a being that no human can associate to on a physical dimension is persecuted, there is a sense of ease when it comes to examining a situation. However, this leads into the point of why the simple root of genocide is persecution of the non-conformist in a society.

Now, genocide usually is not rooted in pure physical differences in peoples. The genocide of a certain race is the due to primarily the demands of an oppressive race and/or the disapproval of the cultural practices of the suppressed race. We see this in Powwow Highway. In this film and in District 9, the suppressed race is placed in reservations. The reservations are areas in the country/city that separates them from the “normal” members of the society. In the article Denial, Shadow, and Recovery, Jana Rivers- Norton says in reference to capitalist Americans as a whole, “they materialize through various forms of acting out (racism, scapegoating, national chauvinism).” In both films, the oppressive race wants to eliminate the lower race because of economic means to gain land. The case of Powwow Highway is to build a refinery, and in District 9 is to further develop the slums to benefit the city.

Secondly, District 9 and the Rwandan holocaust relate together because much of the Rwandan holocaust was based off of the face that Tutsis looked a lot different from Hutus. Paul’s wife in Hotel Rwanda is much taller than him, is much lighter skinned than him, and has a much thinner nose than he does. They do look drastically different from one another. I was reading the book Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. She points out her own experiences of how at an early age she was taught the physical distinctions from Hutu and Tutsi. Also, she learns that no matter how similar she thinks she looks to the majority Hutu class, she is drastically different from the other students. In an interview article by Carl Wilkens, Jerri Sheperd speaks heavily of the “other” in relation to the Rwandan genocide. The aliens in District 9 were constantly viewed as “the other.” In allegory to the apartheid in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the United States, the aliens were very much treated like the “other.” The film shows a montage of shots showing different signs that separate the aliens from the humans. This is much like the signs placed in buses and on water fountains during the civil rights movement. These signs were the result of the immediate physical differences seen by the natives.

Tregre: Week 8, District 9

I have seen "District 9" before and never saw the allegory of apartheid in South Africa. It makes complete sense now. This was a great way to end the course with a summary of the root of genocide. Genocide is not just about the murder of an ethnic group, but also about the murder of souls, spirits, and wills. It has been clear through the course that genocide is not just scary because of the mass killings, but the hatred and immense terror involved in these systematic plans. 

In "District 9," the "Prawns" were the others. They were identified as a derogatory term after their spacecraft landed on Earth. Prawns were the others that deviated from the norm. At first they are labeled as inferior and then confined to District 9. They were excluded from the humans to live with others like them. This made it known that being a Prawn would set them apart from the human population. The steps to a genocide starts with identification and identifying the ethnic group who do not belong and are inferior to the rest. Then the exclusion. This creates isolation where, psychologically, the gap between the two different species starts to grow and become larger. This can also aid in depersonalization. When it is one unit of something unfamiliar, such as the unfamiliar aliens, then it is easier to amass them as one group instead of individuals. This makes it easier to start to exterminate the mass. As the steps begin to progress to exclusion, that is when tension starts to become stronger. It is the calm and waiting before the storm. Then sometimes usually happens to make it snap. This was when Smit and his father-in-law start to relocate the aliens again with eviction notices. This is to separate the Prawns even more from normal life. They were the invaders that did not deserve to live a normal life. Then the extermination begins. When the Prawns, or suppressed people begin to feel the need to rise up in order to feel alive and having a life again, that is what sparks the hatred which usually boils over. In "District 9" it was when Christopher's (an alien) friend was killed by a xenophobic soldier. This started a series of events. It gets really tricky when lines start to get blurred, like when Wikus turns into a Prawn. When it is realized that this situation is no longer black and white and a Prawn and human can be interchangeable, it fuels the fear in the genocide and getting rid of the aliens. From here on in the movie, more and more deaths occurred. It also changes the viewpoint of the people or Prawn who was transforming. When Wikus transformed into a Prawn, he saw their point of view. The less human he became, the more humane he became. It was an irony like one sees in many of our previous assignments. When one would see that everyone bleeds red and that they are not all that different besides the color of one's skin or different beliefs, no one is really inferior after all. 

The same things happened in the movie, "Hotel Rwanda" and the "Conspiracy Theory." The Jews and the Tutsis were known that they were the inferior race. They were labeled as outcasts. Then they were separated from the "norms" in society. The Jews were sent to ghettos and then extracted and put into concentration camps, while the Tutsis were separated from their families who were non-Tutsis and the white people. They were set apart and not around the normal people. When people are confined to one place, it is easier to kill masses and to individualize people, therefore one cannot get emotionally attached. Next the killing occurred. The Jews and Tutsis were just slaughtered. It did not matter if they were female, had children, or pled for their life. It was the end for them simply because of their ethnicity and culture. Both films had people on the "supremacy" side who did not agree with what their own kind was doing. When a man did not believe that all Jews should be killed in "The Conspiracy Theory," he was threatened with a concentration camp himself. Then in "Hotel Rwanda" the main character had to risk his life in order to save his family. He felt their isolation and these characters felt torn. 

Important articles to reflect this methodology is the Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech and the Rwandan Genocide Lessons Learned article. Both of these knowledge the tragedy, but how to learn from these mistakes. This genocide method is clearly explained and then how to learn and stop it. It is so important not to classify people in a hierarchy and to exclude others. That is how genocide starts. Wiesel believed that if more people spoke up and indifference was not shown, lives could have been saved. The Lessons Learned in the Rwandan Genocide article explained that awareness to serious problems must be answered to. The identification of those less desirable in a given society is what fuels the fire and is escalates from there. It was seen in each movie the identification. One was a Jew, a Tutsi, a homosexual, a Prawn, etc. All of these names enabled hatred and fear from the different grow into a full-blown genocide. Their personalities did not matter, nor did their family, status, etc. It was their label. Then they were excluded from the rest. This made the outcasts and made it easier for one to go along with the crowd and hate the less desirable humans and then go as far as killing them. Each genocide could have been stopped if one looked past the surface of a person and into their hearts (not to be cheesy!) Every person has an innate desire to belong to a home and function in a society. Disrupting this need can be detrimental to a race.

This was a great wrap up assignment for the course.

Trujillo, District 9, Let's fit into the box

It was extremely clear how District 9 was able to really portray all of the genocides we have studied over the course of eight years. What it shows me is that it all seems to come down to appearance. Well, physical appearance and cultural standings and beliefs. The people who don’t fit into the mold that others have made for them are immediately cast out and in the most extreme of cases, tortured and killed.

They’re not good enough, not fast enough, not light enough, not Christian enough, not beautiful enough, not straight enough, not human enough…

Excuse me, what? Not human enough? Aren’t we all human beings? I mean, we all look too damn alike to be anything else. But what District 9 portrayed was that these people, who were just a little different, just a little bigger than the tiny box they were being squeezed into, were looked at like aliens, like beings that didn’t deserve love, compassion and equality.

I look at the film Bent and Good and see men who were treated like aliens, like beings that didn’t deserve to life because of sexual preference. They looked the same as everyone else; you probably couldn’t tell one of these gay men from their Nazi counterparts, but they were persecuted and executed for not fitting in the box.

I look at Hotel Rwanda and see Africans against Africans, Africans against their own people (as if there aren’t enough problems in Africa threatening to wipe out thousands even millions every day). No, let’s kill each other off because some of us have been treated better. Let’s kill each other off because you’re lighter skinned or your nose isn’t quite as long as mine. Because, as Wikus Van der Merwe would say, you are a prawn.

It’s disgusting.

Prawn, a derogatory term used by the non-aliens in District 9, funny because it’s like Judenscheisse, Hitler’s personal favorite to use towards Jewish people. It’s also like cockroach, a term used to address the Tutsi people. Have I forgotten redskin, injun, Uncle Tom? All terms meant to dehumanize.

And what is more disgusting is that all of these genocides, the Holocaust, Rwanda, the Native American genocide, Apartheid, all of these attacks against other human beings keep happening and they keep destroying the good in people. All of these disgusting names and terms keep happening as we are constantly faced with the need to bring ourselves above everyone else and as we continue dehumanize people.

As said in the “Native American Genocide” article: “For us the shadow is psychic energy that may take on negative qualities that manifest outward as acts of violence and fear when inner knowing and responsibility fail. Acts of genocide and oppression can be seen in this light”.

When there is fear because we might not be the ‘big man on campus’ or because we see something that is different or that goes against what we might think is right, this is where we make the mistake of thinking that there is only one select way that people can be.

Gommel: District 9

This photo, for me, illustrates how Wikus regains his humanity in the end and reaches out to help the alienated gain independence despite the cost.

Using District 9 as an allegory of the apartheid in South Africa was quite effective. Even if one didn't connect this with apartheid, the underlying truths of the irrational inhumane treatment of others can be grasped. District 9 allowed us to see the insensitivity of humankind that can lead to genocide. Initially, the movie was a bit difficult to digest; but ultimately it was quite moving. As an allegory of genocide in general, throughout District 9 one is attuned to the varied elements of genocide that has been encountered throughout the study of the Holocaust in Literature and Film.

Part of the process of identifying others as less desirable are pointing out the differences among thinking upright walking beings: such as physical attributes, belief, cultural lifestyle. Isn't it interesting how appreciative we are of the differences in all other creatures in the animal kingdom? But when it comes to the former, differences can make people indifferent to others denying them dignity that can lead to genocide. Seemingly insignificant differences such as physical attributes-the color or tone of one's skin, eye color, or hair color has lead to genocide. This was most prominent in Rwanda. The greatest reason for this genocide was jealousy over the differences in physical attributes espoused by the Belgians that Tutsis were more like them and deserved power. The Hutus retaliated using machetes to kill nearly one million people in only three months. The aliens of District 9 not only looked, but sounded and acted totally different from humans; except that they walked upright. Unlike the animated movie, in our real world the aliens would have been annihilated on the spot because of their vastly different physical attributes.

Unfamiliar cultural beliefs and lifestyles bring misunderstanding and harsh judgment unto others. Philbert in Pow Wow Highway represents the victim trying to reclaim his Native American culture that has been excluded from society by the United States government. Indians who survived disease and genocide lost their freedom and identity and were sent to live on the reservations in poverty. Before this era they were free to roam the country gathering food and caring for their families in their unique ways. Their culture appreciated the gifts of the earth and did not violate the earth destroying its resources out of greed. They worked hard and took only what they needed for their immediate survival. However that manner of living also provided for future generations. Philbert gained a sense of his ancestral past, yet was still confined to the reservation. The aliens being so culturally different wrought fear of the unknown to the humans. No attempt was made by the humans to understand the differences. They were just considered undesirable and labeled dangerous to society; therefore excluded. Beyond fear - power, greed, and control were usurped which reigned over twenty years. The victimizers found it better to confine the victims to one area to observe and control their behavior, to subdue them into submission and make them dependent. Exclusion from society destroys human dignity and fosters the concept of "otherness" justifying immoral behavior as it crushes the freedom and self-esteem making victims feel worthless and empowering victimizers. The exclusion of some victims such as the aliens of District 9 and the Africans sent to the reserves is cruel; yet for some exclusion leads to outright extermination,

Once one is seen as "other," actions of the victimizers become justifiable. The Wansee Conference was a perfect example of this. Immoral acts can be presented to appeal to one's rationality in a given situation. Language can be used to misrepresent and decisions are hurried before one has time to actually ponder approved actions. Also the need for conformity arises. A person's ideas may be different from those of the group that are all in agreement, but the tendency is to go along with the tyranny of the majority. In Nazi Germany the horrendously inhumane result was to justify the slaughter of the Jews as quickly and as efficiently as possible through use of the gas chambers to purify the nation. In Sarajevo it was a matter of "shelling, sniping and starvation" to exterminate the lives of thousands of people. The siege was executed in the name of nationalism, but it went against the Law of Armed Conflict killing innocent citizens and destroying protected institutions. The severity of the alien genocide was most profound with the killing of the eggs, the young aliens, that would prevent a future generation of aliens from existing.

So identifying others as less desirable and excluding them from society are strategies that lead to the eventual justification of genocide - the extermination of a certain group. But just as Wikus came to see through different eyes (literally) in District 9 when he was exposed to the alien fluid and came to understand their plight; he conversely saw the absurd persecutions by the multinational unit for which he worked. Experiments were performed on him and the aliens by the governmental MNU, just as the Germans did to the Jews in the concentration camps. All was in the name of justifiable research to those who had been identified as "other" and excluded from society. But we must look through the lens of respect for the dignity of humanity and discern the path that leads to true wisdom, knowledge and understanding in our interaction with others.

Rogers: District 9 in relation to the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide

Wikus Van der Merwe is at first representative of the cruelty and racism perpetrated by the white South Africans against the black Africans. As he sets fire to the prawn baby-pods, he laughs at their screams, reminding me of the deliberate cruelty of the nazi's. In particular I was reminded of the SS guards in the ghetto in The Pianist that would force the Jewish residents to pair up into dance partners and dance for their amusement. They paired them up in ways to amuse themselves; a little boy with an old grandmother, a tall woman and a short man. Wikus makes fun of the prawns and goes about his job cheerfully, completely unable to see any wrong in his actions. He is totally convinced that their alien-nature makes the prawns lack any kind of emotions that are usually conceived of as human, like love.

In Carol B. Thompson's Forum:Investing in South African Apartheid, I learned that the South African government in 1951 decided that, "To maintain their economic and political dominance as a minority, the whites…instituted a "homelands" or bantustan policy. Eighty percent of the population is living on thirteen percent of the land. Each African ethnic group is to have its own bantustan. The land designated for the Africans contains none of the major mineral resources and most of the unproductive land….the government has forcibly moved three million people from the urban areas to the bantustans (54)." I was again reminded of The Pianist and how we watch as the Nazi's forcibly evict the Jews and set them up in the ghetto and then later, of course, they are taken to the concentration and/or death camps. Thompson also informs us that through the 1952 Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents Act, black South Africans were forced to carry around their passbooks to assure police authorities of where they were from. Both the prawns and the Jews (and all of the other groups persecuted by the nazis) were required to show proof of their citizenry, also.

Immediately I was struck by the word "prawn." A derogatory term for the aliens, I was reminded of the Hutu preference for calling the Tutsi's "cockroaches." This is nothing but pure de-humanization so that those in places of power and influence, like the Hutu radio DJ or the South African government, can drive home the fact that the prawns (allegorically the black south Africans) and the Tutsi's are sub-human. As Carl Wilkens discusses in his interview: Last Man Standing, the American who stayed during the Rwandan Genocide, "othering," as he calls it is something that we all do inherently. We tend to start "othering" when we are in times of crisis as it seems to be a deeper form of scapegoating. Finding a common enemy is important to people (Wilkens 145). The Tutsi's in a time of national unrest become the "other" in Rwanda. In a society that has been in a state of upheaval over race politics, the prawns are the ideal "other" and because of the poor state of Germany post WWI, Hitler was able to give his followers a scapegoat in the Jewish "other."

Raymond Week 8: Disrtict 9

In Districts 9 we are provided great insight for us to experience and learn the events that take place during genocide, with a science fiction twist. We are once again exposed to many of the trials and tribulations seen in other genocides we have studied. In The Pianist we see Szpilman forced out of his home into the Warsaw ghetto. The living conditions were very deplorable, with almost no resources to live left there to starve or become exposed to disease. In District 9 the prawns are living in the very same type of conditions, rooting through garbage for food and using the bathroom where ever they can. The scene shows the houses in which they are living in, that have dirt floors and tin roofs. They are experiencing this because of separation; all the “less desirable” being attacked in genocides are forced out of their normal lives into horrific living conditions and removed from the rest of the community. The less desirable type of society must be removed and excluded; this is how the society attacking gains power. Having the less desirable remain in the population they are not as easily controlled.
The Article What We Learned from the Siege of Sarajevo, in the very being says “given the city’s poor defenses, few imagined the siege would last some three and a half years” (Andreas). This quote shows how the less desirable are sought out against. The places and people who are targets generally do not possess the defense mechanisms to help aid in defending their communities. District 9, we see the scene in which the hut is filled with thriving babies this is quickly set on fire. The babies are a defenseless piece of the pie and is very easily controlled or destroyed. The MNU felt that destroying the reproduction, would make things much easier in moving all the prawns along to the designated area.
The extermination of the prawns was not initially the intended purpose. The MNU was hired to go into district 9 and have the prawns sign eviction notices. This was to serve as notice they were being forced out of district 9 and going to moved to another area far away from the rest of the community of Johannesburg. MNU was forced to do this because of violent events taking place between the citizens and the prawns outside of district 9 where they were originally assigned to live. Many of the prawns through this eviction process were being killed off. The prawns did not want to live what they have established as their community and refused to sign the papers. This resulting into the prawns fighting back at the MNU using violence at times, in return the MNU military retaliated with shooting them. Powwow Highway we see a type of extermination without a massacre of death. The Indian community is being threatened by being taken over by a mining contract. This is result in the Indian community moving out of their homes as they know them and into other land to start all over and reestablishing themselves. Along their travels to save Red Bow’s sister, they see how the Indian community is being targeted and treated very poorly and even violently at times. Red Bow’s sister is arrested for drugs found in her trunk and her children are taking from her as well. Bonnie knows she did not have the drugs in her trunk and the police were seeking her out, due to her Indian ethnicity. Native American Genocide, conversation Jana speaks about an article written by David E. Stannard called The American Holocaust. She speaks of a thesis that Stannard says “claim that European cultures were obsessed with the annihilation of those individuals categorized as life-unworthy” and also that “Individuals associated with the earth (such as non-Christians, women, and the native populace of the Americas) needed to be subdued and converted, if not eliminated.” Both of these quotes are great summaries of less desirable in a given society and elimination used in genocides.

Tran: District 9

I think if someone simply watches District 9 as a sci-fi film or have no knowledge of South African history, then the allegories to apartheid and genocides would easily be missed. Since we have in this class and learning about these issues, the connections between this film and the materials we have studied is quite clear.

One of the scenes that really set the tone for District 9 was when the humans finally cut into the spaceship and found the aliens to be malnourished, sickly, covered in filth, and overall disgusting creatures. This scene reflects similar themes of groups that were exterminated by presenting them in a way that makes them less than human and unrespectable as creatures. The film could have easily shown weak, but highly intelligent and efficient aliens, but they chose to make them seen in an unfavorable light. The humans call the aliens prawns because they resemble them and this identification dehumanizes them into a lower sector of creatures. Decades later, the aliens are still shown as cat food loving, lazy, violent, and uncontrollable creatures and they are all herded together in a slum known as District 9. They are also seen fighting with one another, getting drunk a lot, and rummaging through garbage. There are a lot of unrest between the aliens and the locals and it shows how the aliens are segregated into their own community and not allowed to use facilities as the locals do like the buses or restaurants. It becomes so much of a problem that the government to decide what they think is best for the aliens by moving them to a new district outside of the city and away from people.

These issues are also portray in like the films Hotel Rwanda and Powwow Highway, in which Tutsi and Native Americans treated in a way which made them feel less than others. In Powwow Highway, the Native Americans mainly live on their reservation land which is being exploited by the White Man when they see it as necessary or beneficial. In the film, Bonnie is framed with having drugs just so Buddy will have to come down to get her and he won’t be there to speak out about the vote for the new mining plant. The film also shows how Indians are violent when Buddy trashes the radio shop because he thought the system wasn’t working. They make the Indians out to be incapable and worthless so they feel like it is okay that they take advantage of the people and their land. In the article on “Native American Genocide,” Jana mentions two quotes about the genocide: “the death of thousands of innocent native people is often depicted as ‘inevitable’ or ‘necessary’ for Western expansion (Rawls 1984)” and “the native people, it is argued, were heathens, incapable of utilizing the vast stretches of fertile soil that beckoned to various European interests” (Castillo 1978). I think these quotes reflect the mentality that genocides have and how with the Native Americans, it was about utilizing the resources on their reservation to serve American and development needs. As in District 9, we can see how MNU are performing experiments on the aliens to see if there is anything to gain and figure out how to use the alien’s weapons for their own benefits.

During the Rwandan Genocide, there was a division within the country between the Tutsi and the Hutus. The Hutus wanted to take revenge on the Tutsi who used to be favored as the better ethnicity of the country, though it was a socially constructed divide. Propaganda from the Millies Collines radio denounced Tutsis as cockroaches that the country needed to rid itself of. In the film Hotel Rwanda, the radio station blames the assassination of the president on the Tutsi and encouraged Hutus to exterminate the Tutsi and the genocide swiftly proceeded. As we seen throughout the course of the class, there is idea of the ‘other’, as in the other that isn’t with us and has to be exterminated. Carl Wilkens who was the only American who stayed during the Rwandan genocide says “I think they start killing each other because they have ‘othered’ them. But ‘other was a part of it when it came time. I think a lot of times we don’t start ‘othering’ people until a time of crisis. And then in a time of crisis, we want to blame someone.” In many cases of genocides, when you are not with a group, then you are with the ‘others’. In order to be considered part of the group, often you will have to do what they want you to do or to hurt the ‘others’. In Hotel Rwanda, Paul didn’t want to be like the other Hutus and went against them by sheltering the Tutsi which endangered his life many times. As we seen in the film, many of the Hutus enjoy killing the Tutsi and helping in their extermination. In District 9, when Wikus begins transforming into the ‘other’, MNU and his father forces him to test out his new arm with the weapons and kill one of the aliens which Wikus tries to strongly refuse. Wikus might not want to kill an alien, but people like Colonel Venter does and says “I love killing prawns” when he has found Christopher sheltering Wikus.

Though District 9 is a science fiction movie, we can see all of the elements that resemble the process of genocide. The aliens are seen as filthy and subhuman creatures. They are seen as less intelligent a nuisance to the general population. They are segregated from the rest of the city in a confine place like a ghetto in order to prevent them from being treated the same or having the same benefits as humans. Then the government simply evicts them from their home and move to another district which is like a camp. For those who don’t compile, they are taken in, arrested, beaten, or killed. The government uses the alien for experiments and confiscates their weapon because it’s dangerous though they just want to use it for themselves. We have seen this play out again and again. Since the film is from South Africa, it reflects what has happened over the centuries in that country. Europeans have come and taken over South Africa, they put natives in certain portions of the country where there aren’t a lot of resources, they have limited their human rights and treated them less than European settlers, and have just treated the native Africans as these others that they have to rid of in order to benefit greatly in that country.

Baudot- Week 8: District 9

A scene from the film District 9. 

Over the course of the semester thus far, we have learned about several various forms of cultural and social genocide that has occurred over the course of history. District 9 (a film meant to mimic a time or apartheid), for me personally, has been one of the most unique, yet also best illustrated way in which the "wrongness" behind cultural genocide, killing, and mass extermination is wrong and destructive. In the film, we meet the main character Wikus tests alien technology that he stumbles upon in one of the alien's homes and, as a result, takes on alien DNA, which eventually yet gradually takes over his body over several hours. He becomes what they call a "prawn." MNU then conducts various tests on him, that, as a result, force Wikus to recognize the severity of the situation. One scene is very striking as he is being tested-- they discover that his new hand can operate alien weapons/guns, and they use an alleged random  "prawn" to be the test of his aim. He is branded and marked with a big red 'X' and the way in which the scene is shot, one can see that he is afraid for his life and does not know what to expect. Wikus begs not to have to kill him, but they force him to follow through. This scene is very predictive of the future violence that the MNU carries out against District 9 throughout the remainder of the film. There is an interesting subplot going on in which Smit lies to the press and the public and says that Wikus has been infected by an alien STD, as he was having intercourse with the prawns. Not only does Wikus' wife not feel comfortable to be with her husband who is now in permanent exile because of his alien deformities, but she does not know how to believe (her husband or her father) about the truth of what has happened to Wikus. There is an emotional phone calls that takes place between Wikus and his wife in which he begs her to "please not give up" on him.

Arguably, this subplot that occurs in the novel is highly symbolic of the types of genocide that we have learned about in two other films-- The Pianist and Hotel Rwanda. For Wikus, the command module becomes a source of power for him- a way in which to fight back against the oppressors. Christopher's son ultimately activates the mother-ship and an activated, alien battle suit which is used to kill Obesandjo and his man before they are able to kill Wikus and is even able to save Christopher while killing men from the MNU as well. How does this scene relate to the other films? Wikus comes to represent the ultimate fight and successful win against oppression, genocide, killing, prejudice, and more. There are a series of interviews that close the film, and they all question what the future will be like for Wikus and whether or not Christopher will return. Will he want to retaliate or reconcile is the big question that the movie seems to raise. MNU is destroyed and exposed for their illegal experiments and tests, and District 10 is build up upon the destruction of District 9. Wikus and his wife also seem to be connected still (in the flower scene) despite his transformation. District 9 and 10 represent concentration camps or places in the world like Rwanda that experience turmoil and oppression. MNU is arguably representative of perhaps the United Nations in their refusal to assist Rwanda at first when they needed help the most, or they could even be argued to represent the German soldiers who killed innocent, Jewish victims based on their degrading and inhumane views of the Jewish people. To both the MNU and Nazi Germany, for example, the people that they committed mass genocide towards were people that they felt had no place for existence on this earth. District 9 is much different, however, in that is shows its audience a positive triumph over this unacceptable behavior. For The Pianist, his talent is oppressed, and he is unable to perform and play his music for over 2 years, and this form of artistic oppression is comparable to Wikus in the fact that his job, a job that he clearly loved as evidenced by the opening scenes of the film and the excitement and passion that he put into his work, is taken away from him when he is betrayed by his own company and the employees that he trained. All 3 films show the totality of loss and the possible triumph over evil.

As one of the blackboard articles states from this week, "Corporations state that they must go abroad to compete to survive. A recent economic analysis authorized by Congress reveals that American labor has interests similar to those of South African labor. It is impossible to separate the impact on the domestic economy of United States investment in only 1 country, but the report does summarize the effect of total foreign US investment on the American economy... The corporations are gaining profit at the expense of both South African and American labor (Thompson 55)." I found this to be a very interesting bit of information in terms of how dependency of one nation can be reliant or, or even benefit from, the countries in which they are oppressing. If competition and a country's survival is dependent on these countries, it is amazing that one would chose to hone in on these "prejudices" and sentiments of hatred towards the people of these countries. Raising the question of profit is also an interesting concept because in all of the films that we have seen this semester, "profit" is always in the hands of the oppressor. It is also interesting because it is arguable that profit can often be the driving force behind these oppressors to take control and dominate, despite the fact that they oppress against those that could be necessary for their competitive, international, success. On a different note, one article for Week 7 regarding Rwandan genocide states, "Visual representations, photojournalistic and otherwise, are important components of many genocide discourses. It may be argued that, in the era of the witness, visual representations and especially photojournalism have contributed a great deal to the delocalization and internationalization of the memory of war and genocide. Photojournalism, however, covers and bears witness to different atrocities to different degrees (Moller 115)." While elements of photojournalism  do not apply to The Pianist or fully to District 9, the element of journalism as a whole is important because of the idea it capitulates of capturing these types of genocides and the role it plays in history. In District 9 and Hotel Rwanda, both films make it point to let the audience know that capturing these moments of genocide are important to gain a message from the events-- the destruction of genocide. Whether the element of journalism is destroyed and lost from an employee or whether media is used to exploit genocide or use it as a means of media attention and attraction, the reaction by the receiver seems to be most critical. There needs to be a reaction to the "wrong" that is occurring, and something should be done to put a stop to genocide. 

J. Rogers- District 9

When discussing genocide as a practice, it is impossible to ignore the factors which lead up to it. These are the motives and reasons for a determined extermination of a group of people, or their culture. Often times genocides occur along racial boundaries, a construct that stirs most every society.

Racial theories such as phrenology and eugenics, for instance, construct non-white races as being inferior to their white counterparts. This is evident in South Africa, where the apartheid regime sought to have blacks and whites develop separately. We can see in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that separateness is inherently unequal, and no one can make the argument that the tribal lands that were set up for blacks to live in South Africa were set up for blacks to develop equally with whites, as we can see from the article on the apartheid timeline.

In District 9, the allegory of apartheid is apparent. The aliens, or prawns, as they are derogatorily called, represent black Africans. Their differences are quite pronounced, unlike those of whites and blacks, whose only physical difference is skin color. Much like humans, the aliens seek nothing more than to live a happy life, and provide for their families who they love. We see that with Christopher, once Wikus takes the time to get to know him.

Often times these racial divides are used for economic or political gain. Disenfranchising and economically marginalizing groups allows for another group to make gains they otherwise would be unable to make. The marginalized group often has little choice but to become a tool of their ruling class by becoming underpaid and disrespected service workers. The political aspect of genocide can clearly be seen in Hotel Rwanda, where the Hutus seek retribution for the Tutsis higher standard of living in the formerly Belgian Rwanda. Instead of looking beyond the ills of the past, they are overcome by their anger and seek to rid their nation of the Tutsis.

A similar occurrence can be seen in the Jewish Holocaust. Public opinion of Jews in Europe was very negative even before the extermination began. Many Jews were still economically successful even in post-WWI Germany, and so their differentness was highlighted by many who sought to remove them from society. Since they had physical, religious, and cultural differences from the German majority, they were chosen as a target of anger. In The Pianist, the scenes in the Jewish ghettoes show this clearly. The article on music and trauma in The Pianist that was found in Week 4's course material also displays the economic motivations for the removal of Jews from Germany.

The racial, economic, and political causes and results of genocides and those actions leading up to extermination have been evident throughout the course. The fact that such violent and brutal tactics take place throughout the world and throughout history shows a distinct pattern of marginalization and disrespect for the victims of genocide, over a period of time. It is the responsibility of all world citizens to understand these preceding factors, so that genocides can be stopped before they happen. If not, we will only be able to curtail the genocides that have already begun, and at that point, it will surely be too late for the victims and their families who they love so dearly.

Ramon- Rwanda

Allow me to begin with stating the role of the West in this conflict. The West began this conflict early in the 20^th Century when Belgium invaded Rwanda for territory and resources. Rwanda gained their freedom back over time, but Belgium still remained within the people of Rwanda. When Belgians colonized Rwanda, Belgians moved to Rwanda and spawned a Creole type of mix of Belgian and Native Rwandans. Thus, a new sub category culture of Africans was created. The Tutsis were taller and light skinned than the Hutus due to Belgian blood. At least, so I’ve learned. However, the question still remains of why the West did not step in well enough to stop the genocide in Rwanda. My answer: The West simply did not care about Africa. Of course the West knew about Africa’s valuable resources. However, the West was already surviving without accessing these resources to begin with.

We now turn to Paul Russesabinga of Hotel Rwanda. Paul is a wealthy Hutu who is the manager of a hotel in genocide-torn Rwanda. Paul’s main worry was not the success of his exquisite hotel. He was most concerned about the protection of his Tutsi wife. Paul’s story in a way mirrors that of Schindler. Schindler’s main motive in saving the Jews was to make money, but that motive turned to a desire to help those being persecuted. Paul’s motive was to protect his family. However, word soon was spread that he was protecting Tutsis at his hotel. All of a sudden, his family became quite large.

There are two characters in Murambi: Book of Bones I would like to discuss; Dr. Joseph Karekezi and Faustin Gasana. Both of these characters are antagonistic in the novel. When we look at the mind of the Hutu murderers, we should look at their aims and motives. Many of the higher-up Hutus, such as Dr. Karekezi and Gasana have distinct political motives in this genocide. Lets be clear, the breakout of the immediate conflict was an assassination of the Hutu President. Gasana, like many other Hutus, believed that the Tutsis were to blame for the Prime Minister’s plane crash. I have my own theories that the Prime Minister was merely a scapegoat for the Hutus to have a reason to eliminate the Tutsis from Rwanda. Dr. Karekezi attempted to play both sides of the fence during this conflict. He wanted to stand up for the rights of the Tutsis, but he also supported the Hutus with supplies and other necessities to follow through with the extermination of the “cockroaches.”

Gommel: Rwandan Genocide

Boubacar Boris Diop “is both fascinated and horrified by the role that the media played in the Rwandan genocide. While soccer matches keep the rest of the world entertained, in Rwanda the radio takes on a most sinister role…goading people to murder.”

The Rwandan genocide that culminated in 1994 with the deaths of nearly a million people strikes at the core of one’s being. Boubacar Boris Diop in Murambi, The Book of Bones brings to the forefront the agony of fear and loss during the three month reign of terror upon the Tutsis. His detailed account of the horror is evidenced through the eyes of several different characters both Hutus and Tutsis. But especially gruesome are the accounts of the malicious treatment of the Tutsi women. Hotel Rwanda brings this fear to life in visual images seen through the lens of Paul Russesabinga, the manager of the Milles Collines hotel. Russesabinga was a Hutu married to a Tutsi who risked his life to protect his family and to save both Tutsis and Hutus that took refuge at the Four-Star hotel in Rwanda. Initially there was protection provided by the West-the United Nations, France and Belgium. But when U.N. members were killed, the world assembled and the West decided that the blacks of Africa with their savage behavior was not worth fighting for or protecting; and deserted Rwanda. One of the most disturbing scenes after the West left was when Paul and Gregoire traveled to get supplies. Paul screamed at Gregoire because he evidently drove off the road. To his dismay, he found they were on the road, the tumultuous jolts to the vehicle were from the bodies of the slaughtered Tutsis covering every inch of the road. How could anyone continually maim one person after another, and so up close and personal with the use of machetes, sticks and studded clubs? This was truly inhumanity at its lowest degree.

Yet it is unbelievable how this genocide even came to pass. It was not a story of ethnic hatred from "time immemorial;" as Africans are wont to being depicted. It was basically a product of Belgian colonization in 1959 that brought division between the people primarily because of differences in physical attributes. The Belgians gave authority to rule to the Rwandans that looked less “other” than themselves. Those lighter skinned, taller Rwandans that had finer noses and smaller lips were given the ethnic identity of Tutsi. The “other” darker skinned Rwandans excluded from governing were called Hutus. The division to some degree wrought hatred, jealousy, fear, and ostracism. However the tables later turned when the Hutus came into power. Power can bring corruption; although to many the ethnic titles made little difference in regards to friendship and even marriage. Yet some play upon such division and foster that mindset unto their children forming prejudices and “otherness” asserting no commonality, as could be seen in the character of Faustin Gasana, in Murambi.

Faustin Gasana was a Hutu Interahamwe militia man. His story begins with all the meetings he is attending to plot the massacre of the Tutsis. The Hutu’s proclaim their president has been murdered by the Tutsis who shot the president’s plane down; thus escalating the need for retaliation. However the prospect has been in the making for some time with murders and fear rising. Faustin’s father is a Hutu patriot with a picture of President Habyarimana above his bed. His father despises the Tutsis and will not even say the word, preferring to call them cockroaches – Inyenzi. Father has fostered great prejudice in his son as well. They hold no respect for the Tutsis perpetuated by the resentment of the divisions made between them by the West. Father doesn’t hold much respect for his son either, as a leader in the Interahamwe. He calls his son’s generation incompetent idiots, believing the younger generation is not serious enough about the work of killing “all” the Tutsis. Getting drunk in preparation is ignorant. They must be superbly organized or ultimately they will be unsuccessful like Hitler for he didn’t kill all the Jews. “You cannot fail.” I find Faustin becomes slightly hesitant about all of this when he begins to think “ –strange ideas begin to assail me,” after his father refuses to take his hand. He realizes he might have to kill, though he says it won’t bother him since this hateful prejudice had been drilled into him by his father. He even remembers some people say we can get along. He’s a little resentful of his father’s behavior, and it seems he ponders why I am I so coerced by this man who only insults me and offers no encouragement. Faustin is just a pawn to do what his father’s generation couldn’t. Faustin sees the concern of his family. His mother won’t even make eye contact with him. Of course he said how his Father was always cruel to his Mother, but she never said anything. So perhaps no eye contact shows she disagrees with his Father. Yet he sees the neighbors watching and thinks they are proud of him and he is intoxicated by this. How odd it is that he eats at a Tutsi owned restaurant knowing he will destroy its owner tomorrow. But he must hurry out with the tension of the owner. Of course, his girlfriend reassures him. She understands “the country is living a decisive moment.” She nonchalantly speaks of how excited the young men are that they get to rape any woman they want whenever they want. They find it pleasant that they don’t have to worry about having a long, intimate, complex, often discouraging relationship with a woman. Marie-Helene just doesn’t want Faustin to get caught up in that. He promises, but who knows. But reassured by his girlfriend, then cheered on by his men thus building up Faustin’s self-esteem and his desire for revenge (or justice) they will now play with their machetes to the battle cry of Tubatsembatsembe! Let’s exterminate them!

The book did not only focus on the three months of massacre, but fast-forwarded to four years later where Cornelius and all of Rwanda had to deal with the repercussions of the Rwandan genocide while the world was watching the World Cup in America. Simeon gives us a glimpse into what will be entailed to avoid genocide in the future: We must realize that, “Evil is within each one of us.” You cannot rely on revenge for it is a continual cycle of evil. “You have suffered, but that does not make you any better than those who made you suffer.” This can be a hard concept to imagine. But he tells Cornelius (and us) we must remember we are all people, “that you are not better than them… There comes a time when you have to stop shedding blood in a country. Each one of you must have the strength to believe that that moment is here.” I believe Boubacar Diop wants each one of us to have the strength to share that message.

J. Rogers- Rwandan Genocide

Rwandan refugees in Tanzania in 1994

Yet another recent genocide, one that took place in all of our lifetimes, is an excellent segue from Sarajevo. Dr. McCray's comments about King Leopold last week ring more loudly than ever in discussion of Rwanda. Belgium invaded Rwanda in 1916, taking over the colony from the Germans who were obviously extremely occupied with World War I. The fact that the blog post requests we discuss international powers' role in the genocide is extremely prescient, as their roles are clearly defined by their inaction.

In Hotel Rwanda, we see Paul Rusesabagina as an overwhelmed hotel manager in the throes of ethnic cleansing. The radio broadcasts call for violence against the "tall trees," the Tutsis who had been in control of the country for so long since decolonization. His heroic actions and monetary sacrifices lead to over a thousand people's lives being saved.

What interests me most about the role of international powers in the conflict is not so much the West's inaction. Military actions by world powers only occur for either political or economic reasons, for the most part. The United States involves itself in Middle East affairs due to the region's close proximity to Europe, and their vast resources, mostly oil. Involvement in Vietnam was due to a goal of stopping the spread of communism in a region that clearly was choosing just that. Due to Rwanda's tiny size and dearth of resources, the U.S. and other powers' lack of interest does not surprise me. It is tragic, no doubt, that curbing so much human suffering is not on the agenda of world leaders, but it seems history would suggest this is how politics are played.

What is of much greater interest to me is the role of Belgium in the conflict. It is the Belgium colonial government that decided to lift Tutsis to the forefront of politics in the region even before decolonization. Their exit led to a Hutu military state that often sought to remove Tutsis from their positions of power as intellectuals and professionals. This ethnic tension can only be blamed on the forces of colonialism. Belgium left its former colonies to suffer.

The novel, Murambi: Book of Bones, describes the genocide from the vision of an historian. His ability to construct the feelings many in the conflict were likely experiencing is quite impressive. The character I found to be most indicative of not only the ethnic tension but the lasting results of colonialism was Dr. Joseph Karekezi. He publicly stood for the rights of Tutsis as humans and fellow countrymen, but was secretly funding Hutu aims of genocide. When he herds many Tutsis, including his own wife and children, into what they believe is a safe haven, only to have them killed by troops, we see the complete destruction of humanity found in Rwandan society. The ethnic divides have run so deep since the first colonists arrive that Dr. Karekezi sees himself as a Hutu first, and a father and husband second. He believes that the "tall trees" must be cut down, and does what he believes he must to secure his Hutu identity. This loss of humanity was pervasive in the country, even reaching educated, respected doctors. The fact that even Karekezi was swept into the violence and power struggle of the nation shows the pervasive lack of humanity that colonialism leaves in its wake.

Raymond: Week 7 Hotel Rwanda & Murambi, the Book of Bones

Again we are faced in both the movie and the film of fight over power. For many years the Tutsis people were thought of as powerful and strong with a great influence over the Hutus people. The Hutus despite the lack of respect they received from the Tutsis people were the majority of the population. The hatred toward one another was so great. The Tutsis people wanted power, this is what brought us to the massive genocide that last for three months in Rwanda. We see the Hutus perpetrate so much more violence, which was driving by the anger. This quickly resulted in many more Tutsis people killed. There were so killed in such a relativity short period of time in this genocide, which is what made this so impressionable. In Hotel Rwanda, we are able to see the massacre first hand, but it is seen from a Hotel Manager. He attempted so greatly to save his fellow citizens from the wrath of this genocide. Here we also see that constant struggle of political power and control. Paul Rusesabagina who is the hotel manager is a Hutu, but is married to a Tutsis woman. This is one example of the reason for the genocide as well; the lack of control of the integrated marriages between the two people. Due to Paul’s marriage he had even a harder task of keeping safe and staying alive. The same things are seen in this film as many of the other genocide films we have studied. The people watching their fellow citizen die such horrific deaths and being subjected to such violent abuse. Paul does what any other man would do to keep his family out of harm’s way. Finds people in high authority and gives them things they want such as money to maintain his family safety. Paul does and is able to keep his family out of harm’s way.
Michel Serumundo, is one of the characters we meet in Murambi, the Book of Bones he is actually the first we meet. I thought that his story was interested, because he did not have any idea of what was happening. This shows just how quick the genocide began for these people. Michel is an owner of a video store in the village, he is at work one night and it’s a very quite night. He stayed late in the store just in case the last minute customer would arrive. When Michel began to leave and head to the bus to go home, he had an odd encounter. As he began his walk the sounds he heard were sirens, he took this as a fire must a have broke out did not think very much of it at all. The next event it was started his suspicious feelings solider in combat gear asked for his ID, when the solider saw he was a Tutsis he told him to move on. Once on the bus, Michel bus was stopped by soldiers and asked for Id’s as well. Michel suspicion grew even more so now. He was thinking to himself what is going on here, why is all this odd things occurring? As Michel arrived home his wife looked very serious as well, he then knew something bad was happening or going to take place soon. Like any other parent, he made sure all of his children were indoors and in his possession. His wife told him the radio advised all to stay home and not leave to go anywhere. By now Michel was aware this must be related to the death of the President that took place. He knew that major killing would then take place and massive bloodshed was coming their way. Having to live in complete fear as Michel and his family did, the fear of dying and the fear of the unknown is in conceivable. This would all be a result of showing that you cannot kill our President and not have consequences follow. All in all it was struggle of trying to regain power; everyone wants to have the upper hand and the control over others in these genocides. As a result, however many lives are lost that does not need to be, and the power control still in resolved.

Rogers: Murambi, Book of Bones and Hotel Rwanda

Having viewed Hotel Rwanda before, I thought that I was prepared for the carnage and bloodshed that I knew was in store for me. But Don Cheadle proved me wrong; I was weeping 15 minutes into the film. "Jesus, I'm so ashamed" states Joaquin Phoenix's photographer character, Jack Daglish. This is, overwhelmingly, the case throughout the entire film. Joaquin has hit the nail on the head and this view is echoed by abrasive Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte) in his shockingly truthful speech about the negligence of the Western powers. In Charles Murigande's article, "Lessons Learned from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide" he gives us a little background information regarding just how much the UN and the West knew about what was going on in Rwanda. For example, in a report from 1993, a reporter named Adama Dieng, discovered that NGOs had discovered that the current regime of Rwanda was planning a large-scale genocide. Another warning that was ignored due to what Murigande calls "International Indifference" was a cable from General Romeo Dallaire in 1994, commander of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda conveyed news that the Interahamwe were drawing up plans that would allow themselves to kill one thousand Tutsi's every twenty minutes, three months before the genocide began.
To Paul Rusesabagina, The West embodies everything that he respects. Order, comfort, safety; everything that his government is unable to offer him, he respects Western powers for giving to its citizens. The West carries authority, the UN can do no wrong. In an intense conversation between Daglish and Paul, Daglish apologizes to Paul for taking footage of violence outside of the Mille Collines. Paul, embodying our debate from our last blog topic on reporters and their culpability, thanks Daglish for taking the footage and making sure that the outside world will see what is going on inside of Rwanda, so that help can be provided. Daglish tells him that he really does not believe that the world gives a damn about Rwanda and that the footage will only serve to temporarily discomfit them before they return to their dinners. Shaken, Paul begins to doubt his former hero worship of the West and it's so-called values. As all of the white hotel visitors are evacuated from the Mille Collines, you really see Paul's world crashing down around his ears.

One of the chapters from Murambi, Book of Bones that most struck me was the little girl Marina Nkusi's memory of "Tonton Antoine." This short chapter illustrates a a young girl who remembers when her father took up his machete in defense of his family. Her father's friend, Tonton Antoine, somebody who the little girl had formerly cavorted with gleefully, tries to convince Marina's father to join him in fighting at one of the barricades. The Hutu family was harboring several young Tutsi children and the father had heretofore managed to avoid joining in the killing which the Interahamwe expected of every good Hutu. Tonton Antoine manages to convince Marina's father to join the fighting, possibly by threats and certainly be some kind of coercion, as Marina remembers hearing shouting coming from the room where the two men are talking. Her father has serious moral conflict with killing people who have never done him any harm. But to protect his family from the wrath of the Interahamwe he takes up his machete. He tries to convince himself that war is fleeting, "Don't you watch television? It's like all wars, you kill people and then it's over!" Marina tells us that that the killing he engages in strikes him to the heart; every night when he comes home from wielding his machete, he visits the little Tutsi orphans and gives them treats. This chapter illustrates how nobody was left unaffected by the Tutsi Genocide. It is impossible to ignore and everybody, even innocent people like Marina and her family, becomes culpable.

Tregre: Week 7, Murambi and Hotel Rwanda

Bones from the Rwandan Genocide. This could have been stopped.

After reading Murambi and watching "Hotel Rwanda," it was clear that it is believed that Western powers could have stopped the genocide. In 100 days, between April and July of 1994, 1 million lives were taken. It was one of the bloodiest atrocities in the twentieth century, and no Western powers even tried to intervene. There was clear early warnings about what was to happen, but they were ignored. The articles by Murigande and Moller made me be embarrassed of living in the West. A great point was brought up, and was the same thing that was brought up by Elie Wiesel, "silence and indifference in the face of such horrific crimes only emboldens the killers and makes worse crimes possible." The Western powers turned a blind eye on Rwanda and was worried about other political matters, instead of 1 million innocent people who were brutally slaughtered. This was by far the most impactive genocide on me. However, Murigande took what was left of the genocide and viewed it as a learning experience. This was a fantastic way to look at it. One cannot change the past, and the Western powers know that they did not interfere to help stop this genocide. However, Murigande took a bold and empowering step, he learned from the genocide. Rwanda was rising up and he stated that Rwanda "rose from the depths to which it had fallen, and continues to rise today, then I believe there can never be a hopeless case in terns of postconflict recovery." Yes, one can spend their entire lives thinking about how each of these genocides should have been stopped. However, instead of letting those 1 million die in vain, it is important to not allow this to happen again and to recover and rebuild. Rwanda's experience can be used as a teaching tool to help prevent further genocides, let's hope that people can learn from the past.

In "Hotel Rwanda," one can truly see the horrors of this genocide. If one was a Tutsi, then they had a death sentence marked on them. It is important to still realize at how well thought out this genocide was. When the Western powers were not looking or paying attention, that is when Hutu extremists slaughtered the Tutsi people. The manager of the hotel, Paul was the main character in the movie. He was a Hutu and his wife was a Tutsi. The movie was about how he would bribe others in order to save his wife and other Tutsis. He had a strong influence and with the urging of his wife, he uses it. As violence escalates, one can see the horrors of this genocide. Paul could not just stand and watch the innocent people get slaughtered and puts his own life in danger for the good of mankind. While the rest of the world was not eager to intervene, Paul made his hotel a refugee camp. He diverted the Hutu soldiers when everyone was evacuated, except the Tutsis, the targets of the genocide. After ambushes and attempted bribes, Paul was able to blackmail the Rwandan Army General and get everyone to safety. This made me think, Paul was one person who as reported to save 1,268 people at the end of the movie. Now imagine if Western powers and others would have stepped in. The 1 million death toll would have dwindled down. There is strength in numbers and silence and indifference is what allows these types of tragedies to happen. Western powers were always known as the "power houses" of the world. When they would rather focus on politics instead of intervening with mass homicide, it is disturbing and infuriating. Rwanda did not stand a chance. They had a corrupt government and did not have self-sustaining powers to stop the genocide. It was one versus the other. This is when other countries should interfere.

Now, after making these points, I will answer the blog post question. In Murambi, the truth, innocence, genocide, and tragedy were all evident throughout the writings. It was also evident that people tried to coverup the genocide. This is an outrage. I believe that this assignment envoked more emotion in me than any of them. I believe because tis genocide was one of the most current ones, the most gruesome, and no one intervened. It was 1994, people should have known better than to let this happen! There is a resounding theme that I keep catching onto. Only humanity can save everyone. That is relying on the good of mankind and expecting people to do the right thing. This does not happen and it is evident all over the world with these genocides that we learn about. Like the Jews, relying on one's neighbor who is German, or in this case Hutu, to keep them alive usually ends up in death. This is the most disturbing thing about the world in which we inhabit. Relying on someone else to keep you alive is as good as relying on a dog to feed and take care of its owner. Disturbing. Murambi is about Cornelius who is a Rwandan teacher. He comes back after exile in Djibouti in order to come to terms with the death of his family. However, coming back shows that life is not black or white. Cornelius learns that there is not only victims or perpetrators, there are also people in between. This is a hard lesson to learn. Diop, who wrote the novel unveils and unmasks the truth of this genocide which is hard to face.

The character, Uncle Simeon Habineza revealed many truths in this novel. He was the Uncle of Cornelius. Diop used this character to explore victimhood in the violence of Rwanda. When the villagers of Murambi set out to destroy the home of a man who organized their relatives massacre, it was Simeon who told them that every act of vengeance in Rwanda's history enabled new acts of revenge to occur. It was a never ending cycle. It was interesting to see this viewpoint. One wants to root for the victims and see the bad guy lose and suffer, however, it is important to see that even victims can make matters worse and keep the cycle going. Simeon sees the victims suffering but does not want their morals to become corrupt and to act on vengeance to help heal their grief. My favorite quote I found was, "I want to tell you this: you have suffered, but that doesn't make you any better than those who made you suffer. They are people like you and me. Evil is within each one of us. I, Simeon Habineza, repeat, you are not better than them. Now, go back home and think about it: there comes a time when you have to stop shedding blood in a country. Each one of you must have the strength to believe that that moment is here. If someone among you is not strong enough, then he's no better than an animal." Simeon is wise beyond his years. He does not excuse their victimization for them to disregard their ethnical responsibility to not act out of retribution. This feeds the roots of hatred and keeps the cycle going. This is the spark that ignites genocide. If the characters rose up and killed every person who killed them, then it would be two genocides with many more lives lost. This does not make it right. Simeon recognized how victimhood could turn into a cult-like experience. Simeon helped explain why there was such intense celebrations over death by the victims. Simeon discovered the key to recovery: forgiveness. Ending violence and rebuilding societies come from forgiveness and moving forward. Forgiveness is not so much as an act to please God, or whoever one's higher power might be, but a survival method. It demands victims to not retaliate in a violent way in order to redeem themselves. When they kill in response, empathy disappears and one is just as bad as the other. Simeon's role was to distinguish this. Anyone can learn from this character and see how helped stop a vicious cycle instead of fueling. He was probably my favorite character in any book that I have read. The most important part of the novel was when Cornelius discovers that the perfect Rwandan is "both guilty and a victim" and that it was absurd that victims kept proclaiming their innocence so obstinately." The most tragic part was the fact that Cornelius' father was the one who orchestrated of one of the worst massacres in the Rwandan genocide and that included his mother and two siblings. Simeon helped Cornelius find peace with what happened. The tragedy did happen, the West did not interfere, but one should forgive and rebuild, not fuel it.

** Sorry for the long post, this just had so many items essential to discuss.
*** The most interesting fact that I found was that Tutsis were distinguished from the Hutus by their taller, slimmer bodies, longer noses and lighter skin.