An Ordinary Man

“Each one of those lives was like a little world in itself.” 

Rusesabagina wants to individualize the 800,000 people killed in Rwanda in a span of 100 days, during the 1994 genocide.  

“What had caused this to happen? Very simple: words.”

The book emphasizes the power of words. Hateful rhetoric made Hutus feel inferior to Tutsis and created a divide that eventually led to the Rwandan genocide. Radio propaganda further widened the rift between Hutus and Tutsis, with the announcers telling Hutus to take up arms against Tutsis.

“I am not a politician or a poet. I built my career on words that are plain and ordinary and concerned with everyday details.”

The author admits that he is not a man who is adept in the art of the rhetoric. He is neither a politician who can sway the public with powerful words nor a poet who can weave magic with his verses. He is an ordinary man who learns how to make people from diverse fields comfortable in his job as a hotel manager. This skill allows him to convince would-be murderers to spare the lives of Rwandans who seek refuge inside the hotel.