Hotel Rwanda Research Paper

The documentary “Ghost in Rwanda” illustrates the devastation of the 1994 Genocide where approximately eight hundred thousand Rwandans were exterminated by their own government. The genocide was a result of ongoing conflicts between the Hutu, the ethnic majority in Rwanda, and the Tutsi the ethnic minority. The United Nation assisted in the establishment of a peace agreement between the two warring parties and sent General Romeo Dallaire, UN Force Commander, to Rwanda to ensure the terms of the agreement were honored. Dallaire had never seen action and welcomed opportunity to make a difference supporting peace in Africa. The peace mission was especially important to Dalliaire in light of recent U.N. failures to maintain peace in Somalia and Bosnia.

The 2004 film, Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George, highlights the brutality of the Rwandan Genocide between the Hutu and the Tutsi peoples. The results of the conflict were the death of almost one million Rwandan citizens, mostly Tutsi. Initially, the conflict arose when Belgium internationals came into Rwanda and gave power to the Tutsi, who were lighter skinned and taller, which led to extremist Hutu groups to arise in response to this unfairness. Ultimately, this uprising and forming of the two distinct groups was heavily influenced by propaganda, political corruption, and groupthink, and all of which essentially resulted in the huge tragedy.

Hotel Rwanda is a film directed by Derek George that tackles one of the most shockingly disturbing events in recent history, when the Hutu radicals of Rwanda initiated a frightening crusade of genocide, slaughtering thousands of minority Tutsis while people from other countries did nothing and acted oblivious to what was going on in Rwanda. George vividly adapted Hotel Rwanda in a way that the viewer from beginning to end saw the effects of genocide, political corruption, and the consequences of violence. Depicted in the early 1990s , the views on ethnic conflict in Rwanda and the sequence of events is really descriptive and sometimes hard to watch as George digs deep into what happened in Rwanda. The early scenes in town set the scene amazingly for what’s to come throughout the film and gives us vivid insight on the views and social standing of Rwanda in the 1990’s. Don Cheadle portrays Paul Rusesabagina in the movie playing the hotel manager, his wife in the movie played by Sophie Okonedo is a Tutsi and wants to help when the violence ensues. Their marriage throughout the movie supplies a great sub plot detailing how a relationship can stand through turmoil.

Like John Proctor in The Crucible, there too is a protagonist in the Rwanda Genocide – Paul Rusesabagina. They both display strength in standing up for what is right, they refuse to betray their friends and they both show great courage to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing themselves.

Hotel Rwanda tackles a recent event in history where the Hutu extremists of Rwanda initiated a terrifying campaign of genocide, massacring approximately

The Rwandan Genocide also is still an existing issue which killed one million people, mostly Tutis and some Hutu’s, continues to be one of the most tragic and memorable events in the contemporary society of Africa. Specifically for those who were involved. Lucie Niyigena, a 70 year old woman who managed to survive the genocide, is still forced to face her fear everyday living beside someone who could have potentially killed a member of her family. This is just one of the still existing hardships for those forced to live it. This problem has not been changed since historical times partly because modern society has chosen not to make the change.

In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient

Does the Genocide in Rwanda have a singular cause? I do not believe so; the cause of genocide in Rwanda in 1994 was due to years of built up hatred between the Tutsis and the Hutus along with many other occurrences. The Rwandan Genocide is no exception with many variables contributing to the horrific events that took place. According to the documentary Ghosts of Rwanda, in 1994, Rwanda experienced a premeditated, systematic and state sponsored genocide with the aim of exterminating those who were ethnically identifiable as Tutsi. Between 500,000 and 800,000 people were killed in a period of 100 days, with around 77 percent of the population registered as Tutsi being murdered.

It is known that after coming back from wars, the commonality would be that many become traumatized. For Leroy Sievers, the only war that ever gave him nightmares was the genocide of Rwanda. He describes his experience in great detail of how the entire area reeked of death and how a stranger died at his feet, the last thing he saw was his face. He explains how many, after watching Hotel Rwanda, were distraught, asking the questions of why no one did anything to stop it or why they had not heard about it before. His reply was merely that there was broadcasts that occurred that they had just not paid any attention to. Most of this article is describing the horrors that he witnessed in much detail. He witnesses people literally dropping dead.

The continent of Africa has been continually engaged in civil, tribal and cross national conflicts from colonial independence up until present day. What historians regard as the most ‘efficient genocide’ in history, occurred in a mere 100 days in the small central African country of Rwanda. The Hutus and the Tutsis, two ethnic groups within Rwanda, have been at continual unrest for the past half a century. During the 100 day massacre of 1994, a murder occurred every two seconds; resulting in 18% of the Tutsi population being killed. A decade after the war, in 2004, the film Hotel Rwanda was released. The film followed the story of a Hutu man; Paul Rusesabagina as he housed over 1200 Tutsi refugees in his hotel. The Hotel De Milles

Hotel Rwanda is a movie which generated a lot of controversy around the world due to its high content of violence and racism against the black people in Africa. In a wake of this film, started to create blogs, posters, fliers, videos etc. against this issue that face this country. Unfortunately, there were some people who agreed to this; most of them, created videos and/ or blogs which are highly offensive to people from Africa or black people in general. As a result of this offensives videos, people from different parts around the world began to retaliate against to those who agreed with this issue; regrettably, this issue expand to different countries in South America including my country Colombia. In spite of, what happened it did not take

On the lines of many movies subjected on ethnic discrimination and massacre, Hotel Rwanda focuses on Paul Rusesabagina and his family in Rwanda during the genocide of the Tutsis by the ruling Hutu tribe in 1994. The movie incorporates many aspects its subject in a thrilling and sentimental fashion. New York Times critic Stephan Holding’s problem is that the portrayal of violence and sentiments are not accurate. Considering the fact that this movie is meant cover a wide range of audience and its subject, the proportions of violence and sentiment are not balanced for the purpose of creating the most impact and arouse its viewers to the

The movie starts with a radio announcer saying that Tutsis took Hutu land, and they are cockroaches and murderers. He states that Hutus are the majority, and that the infestation of Tutsi traitors and invaders will be squashed.

Prior to colonial era, Rwanda had larger population of Hutus compared to Tutsis and Twa. Rwanda as a country was divided into three ethnic groups i.e. Hutu (approximately about 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) (United Nations). Although, Tutsis were the minorities, they belonged to the higher strata compared to the other ethnic groups; Tutsis were privileged and had power and control over the Hutus and Twas. “Hutus were formerly bound to their Tutsi patrons via client ship” (Sinema, 2012). When Rwanda was colonized by Germany followed by Belgium, they favored Tutsis as they represented the upper class prior to the colonization. These created a social system like feudal system where there was a power difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were considered as lord and the Hutus on the other hand, were considered as peasants. As a consequence, this created an ethic tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis and created a system more like apartheid. Nonetheless, they managed to co exist in Rwanda until they were decolonized. Although there is no social distinction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the conflict between these tribes increased tremendously after the independence from Belgian that led to mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu.

When studying international relations there are six main theories to look at: realism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism. These six theories take different approaches to explain various regimes, actions, and events that have occurred around the world throughout time. Not only do these six theories vary by regimes, but also by individuals. For instance, looking at the Rwandan genocide of 1994, it can be argued that the overarching theory to explain it is realism, but notions of liberalism, constructivism, and postcolonialism can also be seen from individuals experiencing it. These four theories are represented in the movie, “Hotel Rwanda.” “Hotel Rwanda” is based off of a true story of a man named Paul Rusesbagina and the hotel he manages, Hotel de Mille Collines. Although not everything depicted in the movie is a real-life event, one is still able to understand how world views can differ from person to person depending on what they were going through during that time. Concepts presented in the movie are concepts that tried to stick to the real events as much as they could. The movie clearly distinguishes the feud between the Tutsi tribe and the Hutu tribe within Kigali. Furthermore, characters Paul Rusebagina, Colonel Oliver, Georges Rutaganda, depict motivating world views. When viewing these three characters and Kigali as a whole, it is evident that not everyone experiencing the same event will view it in the same way.