Deogratias

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda is a graphic novel written and drawn by Jean-Philippe Stassen, published by First Second Books.

Publication history

The book was published in French in 2000 by Dupuis and has appeared in a number of different translations. It was translated into English by Alexis Siegel and published in 2006 by First Second.

Plot summary

The story takes place before, during, and after the genocide in Rwanda; told through parallel storylines. It is divided between the present day and Deogratias' flashbacks, denoted by black borders for the former and blank borders for the latter. It follows Deogratias, a Hutu teenager who has been unstable ever since his two Tutsi friends died in the genocide. The story begins after the genocide. Deogratias is at a bar and meets an old friend, a French sergeant. Deogratias has flashbacks to his life before the genocide. He remembers the crush he had on the two girls and how he tried to spend time with them. In the flashbacks, Deogratias wasn't always a good person. We meet other people in the story. The two tribes in the country didn't get along. Deogratias was a bit caught in the middle of the feud, having been forced to join the "Interahamwa". His life after the genocide seems very bad.