Do The Ends Justify The Means?: Pain and Time in 'Left to Tell' and 'Columbine' Paul Levine 10th Grade

Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, argues that instead of having a definitive end, every journey “will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path.” When a journey qualifies as “completed,” there is always something that needs to be maintained. Perceptual ideologies are constant reminders of the never ending work that needs to be accomplished to keep a journey from being undone. David Cullen’s Columbine, an in depth account of the 1999 school shooting, and Immaculee Ilibagiza’s Left To Tell, a first person narrative of the Rwandan Genocide, support Churchill’s assertion that the most difficult tasks are rarely ever overcome or accomplished because time cannot mend pain.

Although the means of healing through prayer are specific to one’s self, many turn to their faith as a means to forgive. In the beginning of Left To Tell, the protagonist begs, “Please, God, move them to stop the slaughter. Forgive them” (Ilibagiza 105). The protagonist, Immaculee, has already started her healing process as a means to repair her loss. Although she has already started to forgive, she tries to use her faith in God as an excuse to speed up the process because she does not want to live with the...