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Senior wins One Book Writing Contest
Sep 30, 2009 12:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Senior Alexandra Murray, the daughter of Paula and Roger Murray of Atlanta, was named Darlington's winner of the One Book Writing Contest sponsored by the Rome News-Tribune. Her submission focused on Paul Rusesabagina's memoir, "An Ordinary Man," which was the focus of the community's One Book/Many Voices reading initiative. Read the full text of her essay below:
I have never experienced genocide. I have never feared the voices on the radio. I have never seen my neighbors chopped to pieces with machetes. I have never seen a river polluted with the bloated corpses of the innocent. I have never watched my lifeline drive away in a convoy, leaving me for dead. I have never choked down frightened tears at the sight of a road block. At my impending death. I have never sipped congnac with the devil or smiled in the face of Armageddon. But I have read the words of a man who has. A man who believes in common human decency and maintains ordinary behavior even in the most extraordinary of circumstances: Paul Rusesabagina.
Rusesabagina's concept of the ordinary demonstrates a belief in common human decency that transcends racial divides. He labels himself an "ordinary man" because he treated his neighbors not as friends or enemies, but as ordinary people. His experience as a manager dually allowed him to care for the refugees as he would guests at the hotel and treat his aggressors as clients with whom he could diplomatically negotiate.
But what is ordinary? To Rusesabagina, ordinary is not defined by popular belief. The killers were not normal simply because they were in the majority; their behavior changed in extreme circumstances. He does not take a Darwinian stance, marking the massacre up to human impulse or self-preserving instinct. He sees the genocide for what it truly was - a deviation from the natural state of things. Ordinary to Rusesabagina is life the way it ought to be lived and people who act with decency toward each other. He sees the world as neither perfect nor evil, but praises it for its normal state, in which people simply coexist.
Actions and situations can be deemed ordinary or extraordinary depending on the circumstances. While a hotel might seem normal to a tourist, it can become a sanctuary or a crypt for its inhabitants during genocide. While Rusesabagina's duties of managing the hotel, caring for its guests, and placating officials might seem mundane, his actions could save lives in different circumstances. That such an ordinary man could understand and use these concepts to his advantages during the direst of circumstances is inspiring and extraordinary, but Rusesabagina simply viewed his heroism as part of his duty as a human being and the manager of the Mille Collines.
Rusesabagina recounted his journey through hell and back, from which he emerged unscathed and with an understanding of the world tha the passed on to me: He has learned to love people for their basic moral principles and celebrate the world for what it truly is and what it ought to be - ordinary.
I have never experienced genocide. I have never feared the voices on the radio. I have never seen my neighbors chopped to pieces with machetes. I have never seen a river polluted with the bloated corpses of the innocent. I have never watched my lifeline drive away in a convoy, leaving me for dead. I have never choked down frightened tears at the sight of a road block. At my impending death. I have never sipped congnac with the devil or smiled in the face of Armageddon. But I have read the words of a man who has. A man who believes in common human decency and maintains ordinary behavior even in the most extraordinary of circumstances: Paul Rusesabagina.
Rusesabagina's concept of the ordinary demonstrates a belief in common human decency that transcends racial divides. He labels himself an "ordinary man" because he treated his neighbors not as friends or enemies, but as ordinary people. His experience as a manager dually allowed him to care for the refugees as he would guests at the hotel and treat his aggressors as clients with whom he could diplomatically negotiate.
But what is ordinary? To Rusesabagina, ordinary is not defined by popular belief. The killers were not normal simply because they were in the majority; their behavior changed in extreme circumstances. He does not take a Darwinian stance, marking the massacre up to human impulse or self-preserving instinct. He sees the genocide for what it truly was - a deviation from the natural state of things. Ordinary to Rusesabagina is life the way it ought to be lived and people who act with decency toward each other. He sees the world as neither perfect nor evil, but praises it for its normal state, in which people simply coexist.
Actions and situations can be deemed ordinary or extraordinary depending on the circumstances. While a hotel might seem normal to a tourist, it can become a sanctuary or a crypt for its inhabitants during genocide. While Rusesabagina's duties of managing the hotel, caring for its guests, and placating officials might seem mundane, his actions could save lives in different circumstances. That such an ordinary man could understand and use these concepts to his advantages during the direst of circumstances is inspiring and extraordinary, but Rusesabagina simply viewed his heroism as part of his duty as a human being and the manager of the Mille Collines.
Rusesabagina recounted his journey through hell and back, from which he emerged unscathed and with an understanding of the world tha the passed on to me: He has learned to love people for their basic moral principles and celebrate the world for what it truly is and what it ought to be - ordinary.
