Paul Rusesabagina, the main character, works as a manager in a hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. Because of his work, Paul interacts with a lot of powerful Europeans and he plans on building it up so he can call them for help if there is any need in the future. Paul wears tuxedos and ties and he thinks that if he did that the Europeans will treat him as if he was one of their people.
At that time, genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi people started. Paul’s wife Tatiana is a Tutsi and the Hutus are hunting down all the Tutsis, so the safest place for any Tutsi is at the Mille Collines Hotel where Paul works and that is because the U.N. army is there. There were massacres; Hutus killing Tutsis wherever they see one and nothing can be done to stop the killing. More and more people were going into the Mille Collines to hide from the Hutus.
With high hopes, the Europeans will be sending an intervention force that can help stop the genocide. But when the intervention forces do come, they are only there to escort the foreign nationals back to Europe. There will be no stopping the slaughter. The forces will leave with the foreigners. The U.N. colonel tells Paul that the superpowers and the Europeans think that the Rwandans are dirt and not worth the superpowers to save. The Colonel says that Rwandans are not even African Americans; they are only Africans.
From that point on, Paul remembered who he really was, a Hutu, and stopped dressing like he used to and started to dress less formal. No more tuxedos and ties, just a button down shirt. This is a quote from Paul in the film addressed to all the guests in the hotel, “Many of you know influential people abroad. You must call these people. You must tell them what will happen to us. Say goodbye, but when you say goodbye, say it as though you are reaching through the phone and holding their hand. Let them know that if they let go of that hand, you will die. We must shame them into sending help.”
Not long after the people made phone calls, the U.N. colonel came with exit visas for a number of families. All the people in the hotel were not able to leave at the same time but the second time, with the help from the general and his soldiers and the U.N. army, Paul was able to help every person in the hotel to safely cross the font line and into the U.N. camp.
Paul wasn’t entirely wrong about believing in the Europeans because the colonel and the president from Sabena helped him and all the Rwandans till the last minute. But his choice to change from believing only in the Europeans to believing in himself was the right choice, too. If the Europeans didn’t want to help any longer, it was up to the Rwandans to save themselves, by letting the people outside of Rwanda understand the tragic that they’re going through and hope that those people will understand their need for help and finally send help.
