Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

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Hotel Rwanda

1) Paul and his family witness his innocent neighbor dragged away by a Hutu force. They eventually decide that they could do nothing to help him. What would the various ethical theories (Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics) say about this situation? What should be done according to each theory and why?

2) At one point, Colonel Oliver says:

“Unfortunately we’re here as peace-keepers not peacemakers;

we can’t take an aggressive role.”

Is this a valid distinction? What does it mean to be a peacemaker?

3) Read the following section from the film script and answer the question that follows.

TATIANA:

"You could have asked for a favor."

PAUL:

"No, I could not. What do you know about

favors Tatiana, about barter and deals?

All day long I work to please this

officer, that diplomat, this tourist. To

store up favors so that if there is a

time when my family need help I have

powerful people I can call upon. Now you

would have me waste a precious favor on a

stranger."

TATIANA:

"Victor was not a stranger, he was our

neighbor."

PAUL:

"He was not family. Family is all that

matters. Do you think if you or I were

being dragged from here, any one of them

would lift a finger to help us?"

Do special obligations to family exist in this way? If not, what should replace it realistically? If yes, are there any concerns one should have?

4) Paul stays with the Tutsis at the hotel. Is this action permissible or required in your view? Why? This question is related to the first but there is a difference in that Paul is somehow already responsible for the people in his hotel. Does this make a moral difference?