A Woman Brings her Story to the Western World

As the title of the book suggests, “Left to Tell” is about the story of Imaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan holocaust who after going through what she did, felt it her responsibility to bring her tale to the western world and tell them of the terrible things that went on just under their noses. As the Rwandan Genocide went on for 3 months in 1994, North America stood by while thousands were killed. Imaculee brings her incredible story in hope of raising awareness of the disturbing events that went on and to show people that love and strong will power will conquer evil; God’s work over Satan’s.

Imaculee goes all the way in depth about her whole life in Rwanda. Sometimes growing tiresome, she describes what seems to be every detail about her early years at home and in school. However through the small details, we begin to see a true sense of character with Imaculee and her family, especially her father and her brother, Damscene. Imaculee’s heart really shows truly when she describes her family and how heart breaking it was to have them die on her. Her strong love bleeds on to the pages in the most disturbing and intense situations and serves as a driving force for her fight to survive amongst the brutal killings.

At times the book is hard to read. Sometimes, it is because of the difficulty of accepting that such evil ever took place, but also because the author is not a English professor and does not always know how to keep an engaging enough pace. At times, she drags on for pages about uninteresting things and lacks a sense of literary knowledge. However, it’s impossible not to feel for her when she is pouring her soul out into describing the horrors and realities of what went on. Her finest writing comes in the situations that affected her the most, such as the death of her brother Damascene and the 91 days she spent with seven other women in a small bathroom.

The thought process behind genocide and knowingly taking a machete and

killing someone is so completely beyond me. I’ve never been around much evil in my life. It was really hard for me to get my head around the things I was reading about. I could not understand how someone could murder innocent women and children in the most brutal ways possible. It’s just so completely beyond my thought process and I really wish that North America got more involved and saved these people’s lives. I partly feel shameful for our nation standing by whileall this was happening. North America, being the most powerful nation in the world and it just seems so selfish the way they let thousands die. It makes me wonder what else we have missed. What else we have turned a blind eye to. It’s important for us to know and care about these issues and it is our duty to help people who need our help.

Imaculee, with her morals and beliefs stayed faithful and

forgiving in the harshest of situations. We find her meeting people connected with the killings of her family and seeing the good in their heart. We find her at the church’s doorstep praying for survival, willing to do anything for God. Imaculee’s story of finding God in these brutal conditions is similar to others we’ve heard and read about. Her story draws comparisons to that of Anne Frank’s along with other members of the Jewish community during the Holocaust. There were many situations throughout history when God’s will powered through the works of the devil. People with faith strong in their hearts are stronger than any weapon. Imaculee and Anne Frank are both strong willed women who stay strong through harsh times will the help of the power of God.

I would say that although at times the book does get slightly tiresome and uninteresting, Left to Tell offers an extremely raw and honest memoir from an exceptionally strong willed woman. Throughout the book, as we get to know her and her story, we truly feel for her and know what she’s going through. It is the kind of firsthand account that shows people the gritty realities of what goes on in our world and for that, I think that it is important for us to be exposed to books like Left to Tell.