Romeo Dallaire, “Cri de coeur”
Romeo Dallaire, “Cri de coeur”, A Argument of Truths
Dallaire did exceptional when it comes to the naming of his essay, by not only simplifying the subject but maintaining the true meaning. “Cri de coeur,” also known as “A cry from the heart”, is not only heartbreaking but truthfully eye opening. Every event recounted is straight from Dallaire’s point of view, which could have made his rhetorical appeals intertwine. It is clear from reading that one appeal stood above the rest while reading, which is pathos. Dallaire decided to share something with the world that a majority have never experienced nor hopefully will ever have to. By doing so, he deliberately unleashed a handful of emotions. Using pathos allowed him to appeal to our emotions as outsiders looking in, opened our eyes to view the story through his and revealed a failure on humanity’s part.
One of the best ways to help someone understand or even for that matter, read a story, would be to try to connect to them through one of the many human emotions. Human emotions are extremely complex, and there are no ways to simply isolate just one of them. With that being said, Dallaire does an amazing job of appealing to our compassion and empathy within. Being outsiders, as the readers, there is absolutely no way of knowing what truly happened in Rwanda back then. The best way for us to understand what he is trying to portray, to attach his emotions and feelings to ours. Dallaire sets the scene and feel for the essay, “the blue sky was cloudless, and there was a whiff of breeze stirring the trees” (Dallaire, 497, 1) The sentence aids visualization on what Rwanda would have looked like as he just arrived, while also allowing room for us to compare the before and after. ADD QUOTE
For him to dig that deep and open up about something so personal to him, clusters of emotions are bound to be released. Many could easily pass the judgement that Dallaire is simply just a strong military man recounting history,
Dallaire did exceptional when it comes to the naming of his essay, by not only simplifying the subject but maintaining the true meaning. “Cri de coeur,” also known as “A cry from the heart”, is not only heartbreaking but truthfully eye opening. Every event recounted is straight from Dallaire’s point of view, which could have made his rhetorical appeals intertwine. It is clear from reading that one appeal stood above the rest while reading, which is pathos. Dallaire decided to share something with the world that a majority have never experienced nor hopefully will ever have to. By doing so, he deliberately unleashed a handful of emotions. Using pathos allowed him to appeal to our emotions as outsiders looking in, opened our eyes to view the story through his and revealed a failure on humanity’s part.
One of the best ways to help someone understand or even for that matter, read a story, would be to try to connect to them through one of the many human emotions. Human emotions are extremely complex, and there are no ways to simply isolate just one of them. With that being said, Dallaire does an amazing job of appealing to our compassion and empathy within. Being outsiders, as the readers, there is absolutely no way of knowing what truly happened in Rwanda back then. The best way for us to understand what he is trying to portray, to attach his emotions and feelings to ours. Dallaire sets the scene and feel for the essay, “the blue sky was cloudless, and there was a whiff of breeze stirring the trees” (Dallaire, 497, 1) The sentence aids visualization on what Rwanda would have looked like as he just arrived, while also allowing room for us to compare the before and after. ADD QUOTE
For him to dig that deep and open up about something so personal to him, clusters of emotions are bound to be released. Many could easily pass the judgement that Dallaire is simply just a strong military man recounting history,
Cited: Cri de coeur, LT.-GEN. Romeo Dallaire with Major Brent Beardsley, pg.496, Writing Today- WRIT 3002