Essay Questions

Why was Uncle Cecil executed? Why was the execution shown live on television?

Uncle Cecil was killed because he was a prominent and popular member of the overthrown government and therefore an example was going to be made out of him. The new rebel government wanted to show that what had gone before was now over, and that they were the new ruling party. The execution was part punishment for Cecil, to punish him for being part of the old Liberia, and part of the "establishment" and it was also designed as a deterrent against standing up to the new government.

It is common practice for terrorist organizations to execute hostages on camera, to create maximum shock, to cause the most trauma and to show that they will stop at nothing if their demands are not met. This was also the intention of President Doe who wanted to create upheaval and war on ethnic lines. The live execution was a warning to his opponents that the same thing would happen to them too if they tried to prevent his rule in any way.

What causes Helene to go back to Libera?

Helene has never really dealt with the trauma that she experienced in Liberia but has never realized this until almost being killed in a roadside attack in Iraq. She realizes that she has not allowed herself to feel the emotions that the civil war caused. She also knows that she has never really forgiven herself for leaving her foster sister Eunice back in Liberia even though doing so was out of her control. She is anxious to revisit the places of her childhood so that she can reconnect with the happier times that she and her family enjoyed. She also wants to reconnect with Eunice so that she can ask for her forgiveness.