Ruse goes on talk about The uprising of the Hutus. The uprising started with Catholic church of Belgium sending priests to Rwanda to convert them. They replaces the rightful leader of the mwami with a handpicked leader who converted himself, and most of the country to catholicism almost overnight. It was then, that people began to feel sympathy for the Hutus, because most of the preists from Belgium were part of the Flemish race that had long been abused in a similar mannor in Belgium. Slowly, the power shifted from the Tutsis to the Hutus, who were savagely killing thousands of Hutus as a form of revenge for the damage tehy had caused in the past. Thousands of Tutsis fled to countries on Rwandas border. Ruse goes on to say that one of them was a small boy named Paul Kagame. But, I have a feeling that it was him as a small child, with a different last name.
Ruse continues to explain that the many Tutsis who had been chased from Rwanda began to organize guerilla attacks on the people of Rwanda. They were given the name "cockroaches" because they struck at night and were difficult to defeat in combat. This word, he says, began to be a term used to describe the whole race, and was as indesent as the "N" word, commonly used in America. As the killings became more frequent, the Hutus of Rwanda made it their job to kill any Tutsis they could find.
Ruse continues by talking about how Gerards background and being removed from school affected their relationship. He says that though he tried to remain his friend, there was constantly an air of anger between them.
Ruse's relationship with Gerard goes to show his audience, that though they found nothing wrong with their freindship when they were young, it became more obvious to them that their relationship was not going to be as easy as they thought. This shows the audience Ruse's difficult journey from being a carefree child, to a person who can barely stand to be in the presence of an old friend, for the air of envy and the distancing reality of who they are is almost to great to bare.
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Wow! You’re book seems very interesting. I just have a few questions: What “people” are you referring to in your first paragraph (the ones who feel sympathy for the Hutus)? Is it the Belgians? Also did the power shift to the Hutus as a result of this sympathy and how did it do so? Did the Belgians outlaw the slaughter of Hutus and persecute the Tutsis? To me, it seems wrong that the Belgians took so long to act. Why didn’t they stop the slaughtering when they first entered the country?
Also, why do you think that the Paul Kagame is the author himself? You think he was a Tutsi? What led you to this conclusion and why would he change his name? Plus, years later, why wouldn’t he reveal he had done so?
Besides this, I find it truly sad to see how violence can escalate so quickly between people, especially of the same country, based on such small differences like those between the Tutsis and Hutus. It’s also sad to see how two friends can turn into enemies based on society’s turmoil. It’s understandable why Gerard’s and Paul’s relationship was difficult to maintain after the Hutus and Tutsis clashed so often. There would have been immense pressure not to be seen together and plus they would’ve heard things at home and with their group of friends speaking badly about the other tribe and thus subconsciously forming bad feelings about the other. In addition, other friends may have ostracized them because of their friendship with the enemy. It’s not right that people should have to break their friendships over matters like this. It’s even sadder that this continuously happens throughout history and it has yet to be stopped. Earlier on, it was “bad” for people of different social classes to be friends—even children. Similarly, during slavery and the Civil War, white and black children couldn’t play with one another and were rebuked if they did, as were Germans who befriended Jewish people. It makes one wonder when this cycle will end.
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