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Analysis Of Elie Wiesel's The Perils Of Indifference

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“The Perils of Indifference”, by Elie Wiesel, was a very interesting and thought inducing speech. He gave the speech in a well done manner, making gestures and telling it in a way that was very appropriate for the topic, making it more compelling. Mr. Wiesel delivered his speech on the 12th of April 1999 during the Seventh Millennium Evening at the White House, Washington, D.C. Mr. Wiesel was one of the many victims who were locked away in Hitler’s concentration camps. What’s more, he was a child when it happened. Therefore he presented the speech with much emotion and heart, having personal knowledge on the subject. A large amount of the speech was about how indifference affected the war in such a negative way. He states “Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim…” (Wiesel, 1999). For example, because of indifference the imprisonment went on for far longer than it would have if officials had intervened to stop the happenings at concentration camps. One time he mentioned how nice it would have been if the Allies had bombed the railways leading to the camps. But it did not happen because the world leaders were indifferent. He illustrates his point by the statement “Indifference, after all, …show more content…

The word choice and the moderate/slow speed were very appropriate for the topic. He often used the words “indifference”, “hatred”, “humanity”, “learned”, and “victims”. The word “indifference” got emphasized quite a bit, more than other words. During the whole speech he was looking around at his audience, only checking his papers from time to time. While making an important statement he might sweep his arms in a downward motion, taking a pause after finishing. He would also increase in volume when making a strong point and decrease when reaching a sober topic. His soft and quiet tone showed how much these events had affected

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Wiesel introduces his first claim by asking the audience about their perspective of the word Indifference and gives it definition and his own to then again question his audience about its effects. The reason for this structure was to get to audience to really think about what he is asking to provide their own perspective of Indifference and to see if their answer is like his own. He repeats the first letter of every word to emphasize the contrast between those who are indifferent and those who are not (which is his answer). He therefore backs up his answer by providing another one of his personal experience about what happened behind the gates of Auschwitz and the people. As he grows more towards the topic of indifference, he takes the time

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Elie Wiesel’s View on Indifference On April 12th, 1999 Elie Wiesel gave a speech before President Clinton and members of Congress. His speech was about his personal feelings regarding what should have been done to help the Jews in the concentration camps. While he did criticize the United States government about what they did not do, he expressed his gratitude to America for what they did to liberate the people in the concentration camps. Mr. Wiesel gave a speech on April 12th, 1999 before Congress, First Lady Clinton, and President Clinton.

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When Wiesel conveys indifference in this way, he does so from the experience

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In Wiesel’s Night, indifference is a big theme that is caused by negligence towards important situations which furthermore overall lead to the Holocaust. An example of this being prevalent would be the quote, ““It was neither German nor Jew who ruled the ghetto-it was illusion”(Wiesel Pg.

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In his noteworthy speech, “The Perils of Indifference,” Elie Wiesel claims that indifference, a force which he struggles to characterize, is the root of many of the differences between highly capable and influential societies such as the United States and oppressed groups, often composed of minorities, and prevents the development of truly compassionate feelings amongst these societies. Wiesel employs a paradoxical portrayal of indifference, an abstract diction regarding its effects, and a simple yet evocative syntax when portraying the consequences of indifference in the twentieth century. In doing so, he develops his purpose of motivating Congress and people worldwide to make changes regarding their individual outlook on the surroundings

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In the “Perils of Indifference” speech Elie Wiesel persuades his readers to understand that no one should ever be judged for being different from others. During Wiesel's speech he was explaining when he woke up one morning close to an internal infamy called Buchenwald where he was free and no longer felt joy; he never would again. “In a way indifference to the suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” This quote shows that Wiesel thinks that indifference is a sin, and that indifference is worse than hatred. Wiesel came from a place where society was composed of the killers, victims, and bystanders, of which he was a victim of indifference.

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Finally, the author expresses the dangers in ignorance and forgetfulness, “Because if we forget who the guilty are, we are accomplices” (Wiesel). He also conveys how if we forget the guilty, we do not care about what crimes they put forth. We cannot be ignorant to the oppressors, for the effect is the same as to side with them. In conclusion, Elie Wiesel persuades the audience and expresses his bias on neutrality during World War II by using his authority and personal

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Holocaust survivor and author, Elie Wiesel in his thought-provoking speech, The Perils of Indifference, maintains the idea that indifference is dangerous and inhuman. He develops his message through the use of imagery, rhetorical questions, and anecdotes. Wiesel’s purpose is to warn readers of the danger that comes with indifference in order to instill a sense of urgency in the readers so that they can avoid indifference. He establishes a serious yet hopeful tone for readers by using stylistic devices such as imagery, metaphor, and rhetorical questions in order to develop his message that indifference is the most dangerous and inhuman thing known to man.

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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.

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Furthermore, by saying this, Wiesel constructs a pathway to his argument that this is what indifference brings to the world. That indifference is what put the Jews in harm’s way with no one willing to take them into safety, because it wasn’t their problem to handle. On a larger scale, he is simply saying that Hitler wasn’t the only one wrong in the equation, it was anyone with

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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.

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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.

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The speech, Mr. Wiesel showed to the audience that he knows of these events firsthand because he shared his own personal suffering and established ethos by telling the story in first person. He argued about the guilt of past violent events and proclaimed that said events could have been avoided if humanity had been less indifferent. He stated that had someone have intervened earlier, these events could have been avoided. Nonetheless, Mr. Wiesel still showed gratitude to those who intervened and fought those responsible for the hardship of himself and his people. However, he still did not understand why they did not do an intervention at an earlier time to avoid the suffering of thousands of people.

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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.

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Wiesel’s speech shows how he worked to keep the memory of those people alive because he knows that people will continue to be guilty, to be accomplices if they forget. Furthermore, Wiesel knows that keeping the memory of those poor, innocent will avoid the repetition of the atrocity done in the future. The stories and experiences of Wiesel allowed for people to see the true horrors of what occurs when people who keep silence become “accomplices” of those who inflict pain towards humans. To conclude, Wiesel chose to use parallelism in his speech to emphasize the fault people had for keeping silence and allowing the torture of innocent

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