Philip Gourevitch’s We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

Vincent Vega

9-17-07

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In Philip Gourevitch’s, “We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We

Will Be Killed with our Families,” murder does not have any feelings in it.

Gourevitch’s description of the dead bodies is emotionally and physically

heartbreaking. This essay proves that sometimes you just have to do

what you are told to do.

What would you do to stay alive? The Rwandans had two simple

choices to choose from. Die, or kill. The way you felt about killing someone

did not matter when it came down to it. A year after the genocide occurred,

there were still cadavers sprawled out everywhere. “The dead look like

pictures of the dead,” says Gourevitch. Ask yourself, “What kind of people

would do this?” Reading this story puts images of dead people in your head.

The story draws you into the horror by graphically telling you what has

happened. This is a good story to show how words can not only make you

imagine, but make them come to life.

Feelings. We all have them. But sometimes they do us no good. Some

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of the Hutu killers did not even want to take part in the killings. Yet, they

were forced to save their lives. They considered it a means toward achieving

a new order. This shows that sometimes, feelings do not come in the way of

killing people. Think about it. Kill someone to further advance your

government or whatever controls you, or die. Which would you choose in

this time? Blood lust may help people overcome the feeling of murder.

Dead bodies smell.