Elie Wiesel's Acceptance Speech For The Nobel Peace Prize

Oppression- Through this strong word, many leaders throughout history have taken complete power of their subordinates. No matter who the leader is or how he uses it, oppression is not at all ethical or just. Adolf Hitler’s Nazis committed many dreadful crimes against people of Europe: killing millions of people and oppressing even more. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace prize, Elie Wiesel argues that people must unite against the constant oppression around the world. To begin his gradual persuasion of the audience, Wiesel makes the audience sympathetic to the oppressed. When he states that he “[Belongs] to a traumatized generation,” Wiesel gains compassion by showing that he experienced extreme cruelty first-hand. When the audience hears that he experienced these things instead of just knowing of them, they are much more sympathetic to his cause. Also, he names other famous people and places around the world that are currently being oppressed. This depicts to the audience that although they may think oppression is absent in the world, it is not, and it is

He first generalizes the oppressors, saying, "Victims of hunger, of racism, and political persecution...prisoners in so many lands governed by the Left and by the Right." This generalization shows the audience that all political parties persecute, thus not angering or offending anybody. He then moves on to give facts about the violation of rights, explaining that it is happening everywhere around the world and in every continent. Doing this helps him reach his goal because every human deserves his or her rights, and the audience knows that. Wiesel follows this fact with another one that is just as surprising, "More people are oppressed than free." This alarming statement shows that no one is safe from oppression, furthering his influence on the