1984 George Orwell &We Wish to Inform You Philip Gourevitch

In 1984 by George Orwell and “Wish to inform you” by Philip Gourevitch, both books demonstrates the injustices that people go through in their day to day living. The books recounts the past histories as politics is used by those in powers to cause disintegrations in the society. George Orwell for instance in his book “1984” presents the dirty politics which denies people an opportunity to participate in the party issues freely. Likewise, Philip presents a recount of the genocide in Rwanda which leads to death of millions of Rwandans. Different political ideologies are one of the major causes of injustices and oppression in the society.

Both books “1984” and “we wish to inform you” clearly demonstrate a dangerous history. Indeed history can be a weapon of mass destruction. Society is torn apart and is marred with injustices due to politics. In the book 1984, Winston, a member of Brotherhood party is betrayed or spied by his fellow members. Despite working with the party, his loyalty is abused when he is forced into a rat house. These sufferings that are subjected to him are as a result of his past history. In demonstration of this need for power, Winston is harassed by O’ Brien (Orwell 12). This is illustrated through this quote, “‘now I will tell you the answer to my question it is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power” (Orwell 34). He refused to abide by the rules of the party which suppressed their freedom of expression, sex, free thought and expression of ones individuality. The oppression and rigid control of the party is indeed to force implementation of political language called newspeak aimed at preventing any rebellion to the party (Orwell 23). Therefore, his stands make him to suffer and even his love Julia is taken away from him. On the other hand, in the book “Wish to inform you” by Philip, demonstrates a peaceful history, “….the two groups had lived together and intermarried for so many generations that they were often indistinguishable even to other Rwandans” ( Philip 4). However this peace turns into war between the Hutu who are the majority and the Tutsi who are the minorities due to need to hold power and control social and economy of the country. This leads to leads to genocide that result to many deaths. Many people turned against themselves and many people died regardless of having lived together. The two books have some similarities since the conflicts experienced are as a result of differences in political ideologies.

In both books, there is abuse of history. In the 1984 book, history is abused, because, the members of the brotherhood party, decides to enforce draconian laws. They change laws and deter freedom of expression in the party. The democratic space once available is taken away. The reasons for the abuse of history are to avoid competition and jeopardize ambitions of other people with different ideologies. Likewise, in the “wish to inform you” book, history is revisited. The Rwandan people once lived in peace and unity but because of political inclinations and differences, this peace is turned into war that leads to death of many innocent people through the genocide. In Rwandans case, these changes of history are due to the political differences between the Hutus and the Tutsis. In both, the history is being abused by the leaders who are selfish and mindful of their own interests. In the 19s84 book, leaders are mindful of their own interest which makes them use draconian laws to avoid any competition. These examples come out clearly in the texts. In 1984, leaders enforce laws aimed at infringing the freedom of its members. They use spies to identify any members that are defying the rules. In the “Wish to inform you” too, the author demonstrates how the people turned against one another despite having coexisted well. This is illuminated through the quote “…..the two groups had lived together and intermarried for so many generations that they were often indistinguishable even to other Rwandans.” Furthermore, political ideologies of the two communities clashed wit the Hutu using the Hutu Power to dominate the Minority Tutsi’s.

History in the Rwanda genocide compelled many outsiders to believe that such occurrence could not be intervened. The eruption of the war caught the world in an offside as it was not expected. The New York reported the genocide as “the age-old animosity between the Tutsi and the Hutu ethnic groups”. This animosity is dated back in 1959 in the first political incidence where there was political violence between these two groups. The two groups were not ethnic as this was a vocabulary to them. The only thing that existed was that Hutu were agrarian and Bantus while Tutsi were lighter skinned, taller and cattle herder who originated from Ethiopia (Philip 21). The relationship was positive “…. the two groups had lived together and intermarried for so many generations that they were often indistinguishable even to other Rwandans” (Philip 3). Therefore, outsiders used this relationship to delay on their intervention in the brewing conflict. For instance, the US secretary of state Albright Madeleine hesitated in providing backup forces to Rwanda leading to many killings.

In 1984, before the genocide, Rwanda was in peace. The two ethnic communities Hutu and Tutsi existed positively with one another. The problem became evident in 1994 due to differences in political ideologies, with the Hutu aspiring to dominate over the Tutsi who were the minority. The Hutu power supporter was relentless in reversing the social and economic dominance that they enjoyed over the Tutsi’s who were minority. The conflict turned into bloody after a plane crash that killed their president Habyarimana. The crush was blamed on the Tutsi hence leading to the war. Therefore, there is no relationship that 1984 Rwandans were not in good terms

Both stories have twist stories that contributed to the events that happened. In the 198s4 book, the Brotherhood party uses tactics to ensure that they remain powerful. For instance, they employed spies to investigate on any activities of the members who may not be holding the same ideologies as the party wants. On the other hand, in the Book by Philip, the Hutu employed used the Hutu Power as a political party that was used to agitate for their rights. These two are identifiable in this reading.

Works Cited