In the introduction to his graphic novel, Stassen outlines the brief history of Rwanda, and in greater detail, the several years leading up to the 1994 civil war/genocide between the Tutsis and the Hutus. This helps prepare the reader for a very difficult story, told in flashbacks and brief escapes from reality into the imagination of the main character. Deogratias is a Hutu boy living in the aftermath of the genocide in which he took part. Traumatized by the violence he has committed after gradual conditioning by higher powers, he moves in and out of the present time. In the pre-war flashbacks, Deogratias is a happy boy, socializing and flirting with Tutsi girls, questioning the distinctions between the tribes, even blaming whites for such a meaningless classification. He is tidily dressed, and the colors of the landscape are bright and cheerful. In the present, Deogratias’s wild eyes and animal-like behavior, his tattered clothing and huddled body that seems to morph into the brindled coat of a dog, all suggest the degradation and dehumanization of the experience on his body ands soul. Stassen makes the interesting choice to focus on Deogratias, a member of the oppressing tribe, to underscore the fact that in the case of Rwanda, everyone suffers from the inhumanity of ethnic cleansing. (Age 14 and older)

Any book about 1994 Rwanda must, if it is truthful, reflect brutal events. This distressing graphic novel powerfully illustrates what occurred during the genocide in which the Hutus attempted to exterminate the Tutsis. Stassen’s title, Deogratias, is ironic, like much of the content, because the protagonist does little to praise god. Cartoon illustrations in no way lessen the horrors and crimes that are committed in Rwanda. There are rapes and murders, coarse language, and explicit sexual content throughout. Deogratias is a much-lauded—and rightfully so—depiction of a horrific tragedy, but it definitely is a book for mature readers. J. P. Stassen won the Goscinny Prize for this book. lmp

Originally published as Déogratias in French by Editions Dupuis Belgium, in 2000. Translated by Alexis Siegel.

The 2000 winner of the Goscinny Prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named Deogratias. He is an ordinary teenager, in love with a girl named Bénigne, but Deogratias is a Hutu and Bénigne is a Tutsi who dies in the genocide, and Deogratias himself plays a part in her death. As the story circles around but never depicts the terror and brutality of an entire country descending into violence, we watch Deogratias in his pursuit of Bénigne, and we see his grief and descent into madness following her death, as he comes to believe he is a dog.

Told with great artistry and intelligence, this book offers a window into a dark chapter of recent human history and exposes the West's role in the tragedy. Stassen's interweaving of the aftermath of the genocide and the events leading up to it heightens the impact of the horror, giving powerful expression to the unspeakable, indescribable experience of ordinary Hutus caught up in the violence. Difficult, beautiful, honest, and heartbreaking, this is a major work by a masterful artist.