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Mengxuan Zhang
Professor Batty
ENGL113A
October 21, 2014
Rwanda Genocide
This political cartoon, Rwanda, 20 Years After, was designed by Patrick Chappatte, LE
Temps, and Switzerland on April 7th, 2014. As we all know, Rwanda Genocide is a special
tragedy in history, which people cant and should not forget. There are two meaning that painters
want to show us according to this cartoon. First one is to memory the massacre happened in
Rwanda; the second one, which is most important one, is to criticize and suggest that the UN
should not be racist, and use its power to all the positive actions they can when things happen.
Firstly, when we see this cartoon, we need to know the background before us analysis
deeply. The background of this cartoon is Rwanda Genocide, which was happened on the end
of last century, in Rwanda, a city in Africa. Its main conflict is between two races in Rwanda,
Hutu and Tutsis. Rwanda Genocide is one of the most miserable issue in the history of human
beings, because there were a lots of people died in less than one year.
As what we can see on surface of the cartoon, in the conference center of the UN, there is
a gentleman standing on the stage, holding a paper with words 20 Years on the back, it shows
that the issue already pasted 20 years, and the camera of this cartoon is far, it also show the
issue is far away from us. And In memory what the gentleman is saying on begin of the
sentence show that memory is one of the point that the designers want to show. In addition, the
main colors of this cartoon are black and white, it passed the emotions of solemn and let people

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feel cold. In this way, people can see one of the point of the cartoon is to memory the issue of
Rwanda Genocide.
However, expect to memory the issue of the encounter of Rwanda, the designer also want
to criticize and suggest that the UN that they should not be racist, and use its power to all the
positive actions they can when things happen.
When the slaughter performing on, the people was being killed and killing in Rwanda,
what the United Nations did first is convoying the white people who was in Rwanda as fast as
they could, and just arranged less of PKF (peacekeeping force) symbolic after a couple months
with the order that the soldiers could not shot any one, one of the reason is the races which were
fighting with each other are both black, it was not worth to save them. At the same time, hundred
thousand of people dead in the inter-race conflict.
This cartoon is full of irony. The power-man who standing on the top of the stage with a
sign of the UN above him, wearing the formal clothes, with the large encounter center exhibit a
solemn environment. It creates a big contrast of atmosphere with the cleaner who is cleaning the
floor. On the right of the encounter center, the cleaner looks distracted, that present a careless
emotion. With the addition of in the meeting, there just have two people (the cleaner and the
gentleman), and the rest of them, the seats which all should sit by people are all empty, let people
feel the cartoon is full of irony. The gentleman says, In memory of our role during the Rwanda
Genocide we wont do anything. The empty chairs represent that nobody have behavior then
the issue happened. And one important point is all the picture is black and white, it represent the
race of white and black, it showed one of the reason that the UN didnt do anything is because
they think black was not used or worth to save. The designers created this cartoon was not just to

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criticize the negative behaviors that the UN did during the Rwanda Genocide, but also to
suggest that the UN and the world should have positive actions when some places need help.
In conclusion, after 20 years, beside memorizing the history of Rwanda Genocide,
introspect the behaviors what we did; world also need to overcome the racism, when the similar
issues happen, the UN should use its power to all the positive actions it can.

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