Left To Tell By Immaculee Ilibagiza

In literature, theme is a tool writers use to convey a deeper meaning. In Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, several significant themes are conveyed throughout the memoir. These include faith and forgiveness as a source of strength, violence and prejudice as learned behaviors; friends becoming enemies, and the loss of innocence. The most apparent theme is faith and forgiveness as a source of strength because of how Immaculee's faith guides her through the genocide and how forgiveness gives her the power to let go and heal her enemies.
Faith helps and guides Immaculee through the most challenging thing in her life, the Rwandan genocide. When she finds God in hiding, she finds the peace that helps her while in a four-by-three bathroom with

The Interahamwe would search houses relentlessly for hours to ensure no Tutsis were hiding, making it even more impressive that Immaculee survived. One of the most intense scenes in the book is in chapter 16 when the Tutsis search the house they are hiding in, and one of the killers calls out Immaculees name. She recalls the killers saying, "Where is she?" they taunted. "We know she is here somewhere. Find her… find Immaculee.". The killers know her name and who she is. She went to school with most of these killers, played with them, and even invited them into her home to eat dinner with them. The amount of stress and fear at this moment caused Immaculee to faint, which is when she saw Jesus and found a true sign that everything would be okay. Immaculee states, "I floated like a feather above the other woman… I looked up and saw Jesus hovering above me in a pool of golden light… Then Jesus spoke, "Trust in me, and know that I will never leave you… Trust in me, and I will save you. I shall put

Forgiveness is a powerful tool that everyone has within themselves. Immaculee, throughout the genocide, learns to forgive others for peace and to have other tension healed. At the end of the book, Immaculee confronts the man who killed her family members and shows how powerful forgiveness can be. In chapter 24, she gets brought down by Seman, the new burgomaster of Kibuye, to go face-to-face with the killer of Immaculee's family. She says in chapter 24, "Felicien was sobbing. I could feel his shame… I touched his hands lightly and quietly said what I'd come to say. "I forgive you"... I saw the tension release in Felicien's shoulders…". This shows how much of an impact three words can make on a person. When Immaculee saw this person who brutally killed her family, the people she loved the most, and decided to forgive them, it showed her strength. Immaculee shows the reader how forgiveness is powerful through this quote. All she has left to give is to forgive after having her house looted by killers, family members killed, and friendships and bonds broken. However, she has much love to give and mercy to