Buruma provides detailed insight into each character allowing the reader to contemplate the motivation behind each one's actions. Buruma describes Theo Van Gogh, the murdered, as an “omnipresent figure ” in Holland, but is quick to point out that he is better known for his provocative public statements than for his films. Van Gogh's family was made up of Calvinists, socialists and humanists, all those in one way or another they influenced Theo Van Gogh. Buruma highlights Van Gogh's “desire to shock, to lift things up,” a desire developed at a young age and carried forward into his adulthood and into films known for shock value . There were sides of Theo Van Gogh, the first characterized by his ability to be generous and kind and the second influenced by his curiosity and independence of mind. The latter led to his provocative comments with contempt, causing offense of discomfort, yes also hypothesizes that this behavior was caused by his constant need to attract public attention. Van Gogh firmly believed in always speaking one's opinion without regard for the consequences. The characters in Ian Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam, Liberal Europe, Islam and the Limits of Tolerance include three distinct and well-developed protagonists; Theo Van Gogh, Mohammed Bouyeri and Ayaan Hirsi. Theo Van Gogh is the murder victim, Mohammed Bouyeri is the murderer and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the author of the controversial film titled Submission, Theo Van Gogh directed the film. Mohammed Bouyeri, the assassin, is called the "radical loser", a term coined by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Buruma refers to the radical underdog as “the lone killers who can no longer bear to live with themselves and want to drag the world with them.” But… at the center of the card… it exists without conflict. The number of ethnic groups and each group's relationship to power is what really impacts political stability. The position of groups existing at the time of a country's independence affects the degree of challenges that cultural diversity will present to national integration. Bowen explains that countries where one group has exploited all others start with scores to settle, and countries without a clearly dominant group have a head start in building political consensus. States make political process choices that ease or exacerbate tensions between groups. Increasing the salience of ethnicity in politics increases the likelihood of intergroup conflict. After the murder of Theo van Gogh, Dutch society finds itself at a critical moment in making choices that could significantly influence the ethnic conflict within the country.