Rhetorical Analysis of My Parents Bedroom

¶ … Parents' Bedroom" brings true life tragedy to reality with its often shocking, heartbreaking and detailed story of genocide in Rwanda. Even though they are safe in their own lives, Uwem Akpan forces the reader to be a part of the Rwandan genocide through the first-person voice of Monique, a 9-year-old girl. In this story, she recites the confusing, horrifying and immoral acts forced upon her and her family, which are representative of the larger genocide and all that was experienced by the Tutsi, Twa and Hutu peoples.

Akpan engages the reader through masterful vivid imagery, character development and dialogue. He conjured images in my head that are so disturbing, I will never forget how real and devastating the Rwandan genocide was. It brought an issue that I saw on the news, removed and far away, to my own home, to my family and friends. An example of this vivid description is Monique's account of her attack:

"I call out to Tonton Andre, who is pacing in the corridor. He doesn't come. I keep screaming. I'm twisting and holding my knees together. Then I snap at the naked man with my teeth. He hits my face, this way and that, until my saliva is salted with blood. I spit in his face. Twice. He bangs my head on the floor, pinning my neck down, punching my left thigh."

She is helpless against her attacker's strength and hurt. Trying to bite or spit on him were the only ways she could attempt to protect herself, as she is small, unprepared, defenseless and vulnerable, much like the Tutsi population. Her description of each moment expressed confusion, terror and desperation to survive. It paints a clear image and points again to the theme of the overall genocide, foreshadowing the widespread situation of the Rwandan people and their feelings of helplessness during a brutal period.

Akpan also presented characters' appearances in the simple, matter-of-fact voice of a female child, which was really well done: "My mother is a very beautiful Tutsi woman. She has high cheekbones, a narrow nose, a sweet mouth, slim fingers, big eyes, and a lean frame." He painted Maman's portrait in peaceful, admiring rhetoric, making the reader feel the peace Monique's feels when she is with her mother. She is beloved by Monique and thus becomes beloved to the reader. Instead of saying, "I love my mother," he gently lays Monique's thoughts of her mother on paper, allowing the reader to believe her.

Similarly, Akpan painted the Wizard's portrait as a powerful man to be feared, an antagonist and a man to stay away from. The character history he provided about the Wizard was minimal, but it worked wonderfully for the character because it contributed to the mystery and darkness shrouding him:

"The Wizard is Papa's father's brother. He is a pagan and he is very powerful. If he doesn't like you, unless you're a strong Catholic, he can put his spell on you, until you become useless. The color of his skin is milk with a little coffee. He never married because he says he hates his skin and doesn't want to pass it on."

A major theme of the story is the loss of innocence, displayed most poignantly by the children seeing their mother killed by their father for being a Tutsi. He didn't want to do it, but was forced to do so. This African nation and its people killed its mothers and fathers, forgot its roots, returned to intolerance, turned on itself and imploded… just like this family. Monique bearing witness meant that all innocence was lost in the Rwandan genocide.