Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

of each nation, it’s difficult to blame any person, though the French government is well responsible for the
invasion and occupation of Algeria. Although Grandpa’s long-standing prejudices may have understandable
roots, having believed his family was deeply wronged, the Algerians too had understandable reasons for
wanting to assume their own identity, separate from the French, from their oppressors of over a century.
In the end, the Algerians won their country and an identity to go along with it, as did the pied-noirs. Much
like the Algerians who are discriminated against in France had nothing to do with the mistreatment of the
pied-noirs, the pied-noirs who were affected by the French-Algerian War also had nothing to do with the
colonization of Algeria. Maybe it just turns out that everyone is a victim, though perhaps not equally, and
everyone is a bad guy in terms of the colonizers who invade and oppress and the colonized who fight to take
back their identity.
167