Deogratias Seminar Pre Write
What makes Deogratias so crazy? Think about what he does, and what is done to him.
Deogratias has many reasons to have gone crazy. Anybody that fully lives through a genocide is going to be negatively impacted for the rest of their life. That many deaths would be awful and very unforgiving to your mind and soul. Another major reason he has to have gone crazy would be before this, he had just slept with Benina and then he has to watch her, her sister Apollinaria and their mother die. It seemed to me that Diogratias was very close to this family. In addition to all of the deaths, Deogratias is being taunted about how he “ really likes Tutsi whores and their pussies…” hearing people you love being talked about like that would aggravate you so much that you kill the men saying that, and that would drive you crazy as well. Death would be a hard burden to carry the rest of your life without going insane.
What is this book trying to say about genocide, and what it does to people?
This book is trying to show us about genocide and what it can do to people. It shows us about the French man and how he doesn’t really care that all of the Tutsis are dying. It shows us that all he thinks about Tutsis is that they are “hot.” The French man says, “And its such a shame, when you think about it. All those beauties who wont be sharing their soft little thighs with anyone anymore. All those sweet pieces of ass hacked to bits with machetes… What a waste!” this shows how much he really doesn’t care what is actually happening. This book is trying to say that yes genocide is a huge deal but really there isn’t a lot of support from the people who aren’t directly involved. The author, JP Stassen, uses Deogratias as a character, and towards the end of the book suggests that Deogratias has gone crazy by portraying him as a dog. He uses a dog because Rwanda looks at does as an evil, scavenger like symbol and this is the animal Deogratias can relate too.
What is the most interesting idea from the Deogratias Seminar? Explain why you think it is so interesting, and how it helped you to better understand the book.
The most interesting part of the Deogratias Seminar was how we talked about foreigners and how they impacted the people to where they are visiting. After the Seminar, I felt like we all left with the understanding that foreigners had no positive impact on any country that they visit. I find this interesting because I believe that if you go to a certain country with the right attitude and knowing that you are going into a certain country to fulfill a specific deed, then you will succeed and leave with a positive outcome. In this book however, I do realize that none of the foreigners really did have a positive outcome in this book, or the genocide or any of the characters. I still believe that Julius had a major role on how and why a lot of the characters in this book died but I also believe that because the French guy had such a high roll, he could have done more to help but didn’t really do anything except help with the killings and agree to them.
How do you think your group’s Seminar went? Explain why, with specific examples.
I think that our Seminar went well. I believe that most everybody did a fare share in talking. I think it was a lot easier to relate to the text and pictures in this book because it was an easier read and therefore it was a lot easier to find things and look back on them. When I wasn’t convinced on something somebody was saying I could look back in the text whoever was trying to prove me wrong could show me evidence and show me their thoughts about it and what they interpreted from it. As an example, Daniel was trying to tell me that Deogratias had raped both of the sisters, Benina and Apolorina, and the mother, Venitia. I disagreed on this because there was no specific evidence pointing towards that he had done it but once Daniel showed me some little pieces of evidence I started changing my mind and leaning towards what he was saying. I believe it is good to be able to change your mind in a Seminar because it shows your open to new ideas and you are not close minded.
No comments:
Post a Comment