35 pages • 1 hour read
Tracy KidderStrength in What Remains
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: "Gusimbura"
Chapter 12 Summary: “New York City, 2006”
Deo takes Kidder on a tour of his homeless life. They revisit the buildings where Deo delivered groceries, as well as Deo’s old haunts in Central Park. They then visit Columbia University—a stark contrast. One of Deo’s favorite places there is the Butler Library, where he spent much time reading, and discovered the book that led him to PIH. He recalls his one regret about his time at Columbia was that he did not make more friends or keep in touch with his classmates after graduation.
Kidder is impressed that in addition to his science studies, Deo took as many philosophy courses as possible. Deo explains he pursued philosophy to begin to understand the things that happened to him. Kidder is impressed by the fact that Deo, with firsthand experience of that which philosophy has such a hard time accounting for, did not often take issue with his classmates or teachers. At a Gothic cathedral nearby, Deo explains to Kidder that he believes in God, but that God treats humans like adults who no longer need his help; Deo wishes God would take a more active role.
One thing Deo took from Columbia was the idea that much (though not necessarily all) of what happened in Rwanda and Burundi was due to disease and poverty. With the pain these people experience from birth to death, he explains, it is not surprising that they could be brought to commit inhuman acts.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Burundi, June 2006”
Deo has been working on a PIH project in Rwanda, and in 2006 he sets out to try to build a clinic in Burundi. He allows Kidder to come with him, and they take a detour to visit the places of Deo’s past. Deo recalls a 2001 visit to Burundi when he still lacked US residency status. He immediately has a brush with death: After meeting a friend, he is convinced that the bus is safer than flying, but after he is forced to fly because bus tickets are sold out, the bus he would have taken is attacked and its Tutsi passengers killed.
Kidder notices is that in Burundi, Deo adopts a bit of “swagger” (192). Once in Bujumbura, Deo expresses indignation about the state of the city, including the condition of the streets and the fact that cows roam about at will. He even angrily shoos away a woman with a baby begging for food. He explains that he both hates and loves the people of his home country. Regarding the 1993 violence that Deo survived, Kidder notes an estimated 50,000 people died and the casualties were nearly equal between Hutus and Tutsis. Kidder says he found Peter Uvin’s concept of “structural violence” very useful in understanding the conflict (200). Structural violence refers to imminent violence within the daily lives of the peasants, including poverty and the lack of resources as well as a sense of inferiority and exploitation at the hands of the nation’s small elite.
Kidder also notes the Burundi tragedy continued into the 2000s—an important reminder since readers are likely to think that the violent flare-up Deo survived constituted the whole of the crisis. As of Deo’s return, the new government and constitution were propped up by modest UN aid, much of which was siphoned off by administrative middlemen.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Burundi, June 2006”
In the bus on the hillside outside of Bujumbura, Kidder learns for the first time about gusimbura. Deo uses the word warning Kidder not to speak of Deo’s old school friend, Clovis.
They go to where Deo attended elementary school and find the school intact. They proceed to Butanza, which Deo’s parents vacated years ago but his grandmother still lives. Deo notes that he has never been there wearing shoes. Proceeding onward, the two visit the Catholic school where one of Deo’s brothers was killed. Kidder notes that Deo does not mention this while at the school.
They meet Abbé Zacharie, who was there in 1997 when the school was attacked. He hid at the sound of the gunfire, and most of the students (Hutu and Tutsi) were slaughtered.
Chapters 12-14 Analysis
These chapters constitute a returning to—or a repetition of—what has previously happened in the book. Kidder used this material from his own experience to flesh out the early part of the book, so it is noteworthy that he includes his own time with Deo in his account of Deo’s life. What he gets from this second part of the story are little unguarded moments that speak to the strength and depth of Deo’s character.
Chapter 13 also contains several potentially interesting statistics and facts to those wanting to consider the events of the narrative through a factual lens. Kidder places these intermittently to avoid making this a historical text, but it is helpful to have some specific details recounted here.
At one point, Kidder brings up the fact that Lonjino was dead while Deo was staying out in the park, which upsets Deo. This moment seems like an instance of gusimbura, but in a context where it does not feel like superstition or cultural oddity.
In Chapter 14, the reader learns of Deo’s time working at a PIH clinic in Burundi when someone came in with symptoms of malaria but also odd scars on the abdomen. Deo recognizes this, because when he or a family member was hurt, his father would apply a hot metal pipe to the afflicted area. This constitutes “distracting pain with pain” (208)—something that afflicts those over-exposed to harm and suffering.
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