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.