Rwandan Genocide and Paul Rusesabagina Essay example

Submitted By jay_sid
Words: 357
Pages: 2

Rusesabagina
Ten years ago, Rwanda, Africa suffered one of the worst genocides the world has ever seen. Only three months into the massacres, over one million people had been killed. Paul Rusesabagina, a good man put in a very bad situation, is forced to make on the spot decisions that determine the lives of many. As the situation progresses, he becomes more and more aware of the horrors that human beings can inflict on one another, and he takes it upon himself to protect the lives of his family and the people taking shelter in the hotel.

The genocide was an enormous conflict between two different ethnic groups that inhabited Rwanda, The Hutus and the Tutsi. The Hutu/Tutsi genocide in Rwanda began when Tutsi presidential guard murders the Hutu Prime Minister, causing the Hutu to began slaughtering the Tutsi. After the violence of the genocide began, Paul Rusesabagina brings his family to the hotel that he was now temporarily manager of. His wife, Tatiana, was a Tutsi along with her family. As Paul is attempting to enter the hotel, he is stopped by a general, asking to see the papers for the people he is bringing into the building. Seeing they have Tutsi papers, the general threatens to kill his family right in front of him. Paul offers the man 100,000 dollars to let his family go free. The general accepts, but is watching for a mistake.

I believe that this is the moment that Paul begins to become the hero that he is. He was willing to give up everything to save them.