“Every survivor wonders why he is alive” – Phillip Gourevitch

“The best reason I have come up with for looking closely into Rwanda’s stories is that ignoring them makes me even more uncomfortable about existence and my place in it” (Gourevitch 19).

This statement, coupled with the horrific statistics [i.e., seventy-five percent of the Tutsi population, which comprises only fifteen percent of the Rwandan population was murdered by the Hutus] related to the Rwandan massacres which “decimated’ the population, compelled me to continue my journey through Philip Gourevitch’s book, We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families.

The writer provides not only a detailed account of the 1994 killings, but the events that precede and are subsequent to these events. Thus, this historical data, which includes a discussion of “race science”, John Hanning Speke’s Hamitic myth, and an intimate exploration of the balance of power between the Hutus and the Tutsis creates a landscape which enables the reader to begin his/her journey through this horrific situation as well as view the aftermath.

Terry George’s film, Hotel Rwanda plucks the highlights of Gourevitch’s work in an effort to maintain contact with a broad audience. He touches lightly on global politics, although the insertion of political voice-overs and the UN representation via Colonel Oliver provides a fair understanding of the sentiments for the viewer. Clearly, Gourevitch delves deeply into Madeline Albright’s reactions, as well as the impact of the human rights and relief efforts once implemented in his book, but the forum is best left to a literary perspective or a documentary film format. The historical background of the two groups is revealed by the director in a discussion between Jack Daglish and Benedict on the “difference between the Hutu and the Tutsi”. It is a simple definition, which is strongly punctuated by the responses of two women who look exceedingly similar. One identifies herself as a Tutsi, while the other responds that she is a Hutu. While both of these important aspects could have been embellished, it would be difficult to include all of the “stories from Rwanda”. The experiences of Odette Nyiramilimo, Jean-Baptiste Gasasira, Bonaventure Nyibizi, as well as Gourevitch’s Dian Fossey story are not only fascinating, but provide insight into the cultures, the atmosphere, and the unfortunate events. In addition, Gourevitch profiles Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana who, purportedly, acted as a génocidaire in the Mugonero massacre. The writer’s investigation, not only provides the details that led to the deaths of these individuals, but led him to Laredo, Texas, where he substituted “chaos” for the term, genocide in an interview in which he maintained his innocence before being arrested twenty-four hours later.

These stories, as well as all of the historical and personal data, are important. However, through a focus on Paul Rusesabagina, his family, and the residents of the Hotel des Mille Collines, the director entices the film audience journey down the path of the reader, and in doing so he/she gains an understanding of the victim and the survivor who continuously wonders “why he [she] is alive”.