There are many examples of rhetorical devices and strategies presented within this speech, but the few that stand out the most are the use of pathos, anaphoras, and point of view. Elie Wiesel utilizes these rhetorical strategies throughout the speech to make the audience feel guilty as well as to come to an understanding of the atrocious events that occurred. Elie Wiesel structures the speech to move people and hopefully create peace activists like himself.
Elie begins the speech by describing how a young boy who should be ignorant of most evils had come to know pain and anguish for the prematurely. “He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart” illuminating the cost of surviving such a horrific event, survivors were free in choice but were not free of pain (Wiesel 1). This description falls under the pathos category, Elie integrates this rhetorical device with the intention of pulling out sympathetic emotions and guilt to those who stood by when horrific events occurred. By utilizing pathos, Ellie was able to secure an invested audience as
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Elie Wiesel maintains a strong desire to spread awareness and create a small pool of guilt for the bystanders. Although the majority of bystanders didn’t wish pain upon the Jews, they chose to do nothing, standing on the sidelines while innocent people died. Elie emphasizes his opinion by repeating a word that has a great impact. “Indifference” is a strong word that expresses a heavy connotation. The word itself means no difference but is used negatively, ironically creating a bigger difference between people. Elie argues the idea that “indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end” further implying that the word establishes a relationship with the opponent or enemy, contrasting innocents (Wiesel