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Christopher Columbus: a Thousand Splendid Suns

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Christopher Columbus: a Thousand Splendid Suns
“By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” That is what Christopher Columbus said when he was traveling from Europe to the new world. There are many things standing in ones way of prevailing. The most important thing to remember is that having worthy character traits such as the will to survive and courage will bring you through those obstacles. In the face of adversity, moral character causes some people to prevail while others fail. During the Rwandan genocide the will to survive of the Tutsis causes them to survive against the insurgent majority Hutu’s. After many deaths and endless torture the Tutsis, an African ethnicity in Rwanda, are seeking a safe haven in this time of genocide and will go to anyone for help just so they can survive. One person in particular Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel manager married to a Tutsis, risks everything to help others. Lovegren, the author of this article, reveals that Rusesabagina does just that in his article about the hotel “Deserted by international Peacekeepers Rusesabagina began cashing in every favor he had ever earned, bribing the Rwandan Hutu soldiers and keeping the bloodthirsty militia outside the gates during the hundred days of slaughter.(Lovgren)” Being a Hutu hotel manager in Rwanda and harboring Tutsi fugitives including his wife and children is a death wish considering that the Hutu rebels will gladly kill everyone. Rusesabagina, the hotel manager, will do anything to keep his family and the innocent people living in his hotel alive. The Tutsis and himself both strive for survival. Likewise Valentina is a Tutsi girl who saw her parents and loved ones die at the feet of the dispassionate Hutus, leaving her with nothing but dead corpse’s, a broken body, and no shelter or food. Hundreds of Tutsi fugitives gathered around in a church that one day, one of them happened to be Valentina and her family. Her family was slaughtered but Valentina


Cited: Daniel. Bible. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Exodus. Bible. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print. ""Hotel Rwanda" Portrays Hero Who Fought Genocide." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1209_041209_hotel_rwanda.html>. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rwanda/reports/refuse.html>. "Prevailing Quotes." Prevailing Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.dreamthisday.com/quotes-sayings/prevailing/>. Scott, Gene. "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://asis.com/users/stag/heroes/shadrach.html>. Wynne-Jones, Ros. "Rwanda Heroes: 17 Years on." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 June 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/21/rwanda-heroes-reunited>.
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