This indifference was exposed in the aftermath of the war, but it also shed a light on other instances in which people have been indifferent, and when they themselves have been prejudiced. This matter is pointed out in Elie Wiesel’s speech “The Perils of Indifference,” which he gave on April 12, 1999. Wiesel listed many events in the 20th century, some that took place after the Holocaust, that could show how often the world was indifferent to the sufferings of others. He mentions that there have been, “two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations -- Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin -- bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in …show more content…
For example, the well known leader of India’s independence movement, Gandhi, was assassinated by, “a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi’s tolerance for the Muslims, “(History.com, 1948 Gandhi Assassinated). The main reason for his assassination was that someone was intolerant of his tolerance for the Muslims. This portrays another time in which intolerance led to death. Also, the assassination of Gandhi is similar to that of Martin Luther King Jr., the main civil rights leader in the United States during the sixties who often protested the unfair treatment of blacks in America. His assassination is obscured by conspiracy, as to whether or not his convicted assassin really acted alone or if he conspired with others. Nevertheless, it can be said that his murder was most likely related to his work as a civil rights leader, who persistently pushed for the intolerance to end and for the indifference towards the hardships of the African-American community to halt. Yet another senseless act of intolerance that ended with blood, as mentioned by Wiesel, was the Cambodian
Wiesel pinpoints the indifference of humans as the real enemy, causing further suffering and lost to those already in peril. Wiesel commenced the speech with an interesting attention getter: a story about a young Jewish from a small town that was at the end of war liberated from Nazi rule by American soldiers. This young boy was in fact himself. The first-hand experience of cruelty gave him credibility in discussing the dangers of indifference; he was a victim himself.
Indifference Kills ADL’s Pyramid of Hate states how every genocide that has ever happened on earth will always start with a biased attitude towards a group of people. This biased attitude leads to acts of discrimination, dehumanization, this is followed by, extreme systemic discrimination, then bias motivates violence and finally genocide. Another aspect that most people forget when a genocide happens is the response from the rest of the world. To show what happens when societies disregard their obligation to help each other we can see from Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel's first hand accounts about living through the fascist Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
In Perils of Indifference, by Elie Wiesel, he states, “These failures have cast a shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations (Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin), blood bathes in Cambodia and Algeria, India and Pakistan… And, on a whole new level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka” (16-20). Initially, it may
Elie Wiesel enlightens his audience of the injustice Roosevelt submitted Jewish refugees to. Wiesel exclaims that he doesn't not understand if, "Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart." Wiesel questions the indifference in the president of the free world and why he didn't allow these refugees into the country. If Wiesel had not presented this information to his audience about the root and extreme problem of indifference in the country, do you think people would have realized just how terrible the problem is and how neglectful we are of our
Indifference need to be gain awareness and be stopped. He develops his claim by narrating the dangers of indifference, and how it affected his life then, describes how wrongful it is to be treated in such a way. Finally Wiesel illustrates examples of how indifference affected the world. Wiesel’s purpose is to inform us about the dangers of indifference in order to bring change about it. He establishes a straightforward tone for the president, ambassadors, politicians, and congressmen.
Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Speech Analysis Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and winner of a Nobel peace prize, stood up on April 12, 1999 at the White House to give his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”. In Wiesel’s speech he was addressing to the nation, the audience only consisted of President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, congress, and other officials. The speech he gave was an eye-opener to the world in his perspective. Wiesel uses a variety of rhetorical strategies and devices to bring lots of emotion and to educate the indifference people have towards the holocaust. “You fight it.
The Perils of Indifference Critical Evaluation Essay In the past, indifference has led to the murder of millions of people. Indifference is when we, the humans race, do not care about those who suffer from the injustice, violence, or oppression on behalf of others (Clare). On 12 April 1992, Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor gave a speech regarding human indifference in front of President William J. Clinton and the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the White House. What was he trying to accomplish during his speech?
It becomes clear that Elie Wiesel`s commentary on human nature is that, during extreme circumstances, people are selfish and would achieve anything for their own survival. Furthermore, In Wiesel’s novel people strived to survive this injustice. For example, the Holocaust caused countless amount of
Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech included him talking about how he could not believe that the Holocaust had happened and the whole world just turned their backs. In the speech, Elie Wiesel states,¨ ‘And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent,’¨. Elie Wiesel is saying how the world knew about the Holocaust, but they just remained silent and did not say anything that could help stop it. This relates back to the thesis because no one had empathy and they just allowed this horrible thing to
With all of these dreadful attacks, one would think something would be done to prevent these acts of violence, but instead, most of us showed some type of sympathy but no actions, laws, or acts are being enforced to prevent the ruthless and inhuman acts from occurring. I get it, being indifferent is extremely easy, but it is also not worth the pain and suffering that others have to go through. Elie Wiesel, the human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize-winning, Holocaust survivor, and author of more than 50 books, performed his "The Perils of Indifference" speech at the White House in April of 1999. Where he talked about the meaning of indifference and how easy it is to be indifferent, "Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than
Elie Wiesel voiced his emotions and thoughts of the horrors done to Jewish people during World War II whilst developing his claim. Wiesel “remember[s] his bewilderment,” “his astonishment,” and “his anguish” when he saw they were dropped into the ghetto to become slaves and to be slaughtered. He repeats the words “I remember” because he and the world, especially those who suffered in the ghettos and camps, would never be able to forget how innocent suffered. Consequently, he emphasized that “no one” has the right to advocate for the dead. Like many other people in the world, he lost his family during the war.
In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Elie Wiesel strives to inform his audience of the unbelievable atrocities of the Holocaust in order to prevent them from ever again responding to inhumanity and injustice with silence and neutrality. The structure or organization of Wiesel’s speech, his skillful use of the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos, combined with powerful rhetorical devices leads his audience to understand that they must never choose silence when they witness injustice. To do so supports the oppressors. Wiesel’s speech is tightly organized and moves the ideas forward effectively. Wiesel begins with humility, stating that he does not have the right to speak for the dead, introducing the framework of his words.
In which millions of Jews were innocently killed and persecuted because of their religion. As a student who is familiar with the years of the holocaust that will forever live in infamy, Wiesel’s memoir has undoubtedly changed my perspective. Throughout the text, I have been emotionally touched by the topics of dehumanization, the young life of Elie Wiesel, and gained a better understanding of the Holocaust. With how dehumanization was portrayed through words, pondering my mind the most.
Holocaust. Death. Suffering. These are but a few of the words that may begin to describe this tragic period in the history of man. The Perils of Indifference and Night are both publications by the Elie Wiesel, one of the many victims to the Holocaust, but one of the very few victims who lived to tell his story.
The entire world was so ignorant to such a massacre of horrific events that were right under their noses, so Elie Wiesel persuades and expresses his viewpoint of neutrality to an audience. Wiesel uses the ignorance of the countries during World War II to express the effects of their involvement on the civilians, “And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent when and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation” (Weisel). To persuade the audience, Elie uses facts to make the people become sentimental toward the victims of the Holocaust. Also, when Weisel shares his opinion with the audience, he gains people onto his side because of his authority and good reputation.