In her memoir Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, Immaculée Ilibagiza endures horrific tragedies as everyone around her is brutally killed by Hutus during the Rwandan genocide . In the space of just three months he loses almost everyone he loves except his older brother, Aimable. However, despite everything she goes through, Immaculée forgives the Hutus who wronged her and changed her life forever. Immaculée did not forgive for the sake of others but for herself. It would do her no good to hold on to her negative feelings for the rest of her life because they would continue to eat away at her. With the help of her extreme devotion to God she was able to let go and move on with her life, but without forgetting what had happened to her, her family and many of the people who were close to her. Without her love for God, she would not have survived living in the bathroom for so long. It was very difficult for her to forgive those who wronged her, and it was almost unimaginable to readers that she had the ability to do so, but it was the right thing for her to do. Even when Immaculée was younger and her life was practically perfect growing up she was a devout Roman Catholic and felt close to God. “I loved praying, going to church and everything that had to do with God. I especially loved the Virgin Maria, believing that she was my second mother, taking care of me from heaven. I didn't know why, but praying made me feel warm and happy” (Ilibagiza 6). Praying to God was always second nature to Immaculée and a part of who she was. As a young girl, she agreed with her father when he told her that you can never pray too much. He adored his parents almost as much as he adored God and learned to feel... middle of paper... words to share with him, which once again proves exactly how strong a person he was. Immaculée responds to the guard's bewildered questions with a very simple, yet powerful phrase to conclude the final chapter: "Forgiveness is all I have to offer" (Ilibagiza 204). He probably never said something so true again in his life. After spending so much energy and emotion to not allow herself to walk around with hate in her heart, she has nothing left. Forgiveness is a coping mechanism for her and when it was all over it left her feeling empty inside. After everything she went through, Immaculée was able to find a way to end things without further violence because she didn't want to perpetuate the cycle. Works Cited Ilibagiza, Immaculée and Steve Erwin. Left Untold: Discovering God in the Midst of the Rwandan Holocaust. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2006. Print.