In Elie Wiesel’s speech “Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech”, Wiesel suggests that in times of crisis, people must stand together against injustices. Wiesel develops and supports his claim through his use of anecdotes, inclusive diction, rhetorical questions, and parallel structures. Wiesel’s purpose is to motivate the world to stand up against injustices in order to prevent the persecution of more innocent people. The audience Wiesel intended for his speech is anyone on Earth who is willing to make a difference, but mostly directed at adults who are able to go out and actually contribute to making a change. Wiesel succeeds in establishing a bond with the audience, as he comes off as very humble and trustworthy. Through his use of rhetorical …show more content…
For instance, Wiesel briefly reflects on his experience in the Holocaust with the use of an anecdote. Wiesel writes about himself, “I remember his bewilderment. I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car” (1). The fact that Wiesel lived through and survived the Holocaust already puts him in a position where one is able to immediately trust his word. Now, Wiesel is able to look back on and share his experiences with the world. The anecdotes from his past show the terrible acts of persecution that the Nazis inflicted upon Jews and will encourage people in today’s world to stand up against any current injustices. To add on, Wiesel’s credibility is drastically increased with the fact that he is receiving a Nobel Peace Prize. Wiesel acknowledges the audience by saying, “It is with a profound sense of humility that I accept the honor you have chosen to bestow upon me” (1). By winning a Nobel Peace Prize, one is able to tell that Wiesel is a trustworthy source. With his usage of inclusive diction, Wiesel shares part of his success with the crowd, making the audience feel directly affected and more compelled to his claim. Wiesel’s usage of ethos supports him in proving his
Wiesel endured much horrors in the world and he has worked his entire life to help get rid of hatred and ignorance from the world. “Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again” (Wiesel 310). This quote from Wiesel’s speech is located at the very beginning of his speech because he wants to build credibility with his audience. He is showing that he had first hand experience of being in the Holocaust. It allows the audience to visualize a young Wiesel being part of the Holocaust having dealt with the pain, punishment, and starvation. Wiesel describes himself as a Jewish boy “without joy in his heart” because even though he finally had his freedom, he felt much compassion from the American soldiers. This quote lets the audience know what the speaker went through and how it affected his world view. Elie Wiesel is a good source to hear about indifference towards World War II from because he lived through it. This quote impacts the meaning of the speech because its lets the audience know a little background information on what happened to Wiesel and we know that what he is saying is truthful because he tells us about what he saw, what he was thinking, and
Injustice still occurs in today’s society. In “Hope, Despair, and Memory” Ellie Wiesel repeats, “it would be enough” to express his frustration in how humanity has not changed. Wiesel’s point of view differs from Solzhenitsyn oration in “One Word of Truth Outweighs the World” because Solzhenitsyn believes lying and violence are inseparable. However, Wiesel and Solzhenitsyn are similar in that they are both frustrated with our society not learning from past mistakes.
Speeches are given for a purpose. Whether it is for persuasion, or education, or even entertainment, they all target certain parts of people’s minds. This speech, The Perils of Indifference, was given by Elie Wiesel with intention to persuade his audience that indifference is the downfall of humanity, and also to educate his audience about his conclusions about the Holocaust and the corresponding events. He was very successful in achieving those goals. Not only was the audience enlightened, but also President Bill Clinton, and the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, themselves were deeply touched by Wiesel’s words.
Most people think that their voice or action against injustice won’t help because they are just one human being, but if one were to have a whole nation with this type of mentality, then there would be no one to stop the oppression from continuing. Elie Wiesel’s book, “Night,” shows the hardships and traumatizing events that Wiesel had gone through. For example: “ As we were permitted to bend down, we took out our spoons and ate the snow off our neighbors backs. A mouthful of bread and a spoonful of snow. The SS men who were watching were g...
In April, 1945, Elie Wiesel was liberated from the Buchenwald concentration camp after struggling with hunger, beatings, losing his entire family, and narrowly escaping death himself. He at first remained silent about his experiences, because it was too hard to relive them. However, eventually he spoke up, knowing it was his duty not to let the world forget the tragedies resulting from their silence. He wrote Night, a memoir of his and his family’s experience, and began using his freedom to spread the word about what had happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again. In 1999, he was invited to speak at the Millennium Lectures, in front of the president, first lady, and other important governmental figures,. In his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, he uses rhetoric devices to get emotional responses and to connect with the audience. He wants to create awareness of the dangers of indifference and show how there needs to be change. His speech eloquently calls out the government for their lack of response during the Holocaust, and warns against continued disregard for the struggles of others. He sees indifference as being the ally of the enemy, and without compassion there is no hope for the
As humans, we require basic necessities, such as food, water, and shelter to survive. But we also need a reason to live. The reason could be the thought of a person, achieving some goal, or a connection with a higher being. Humans need something that drives them to stay alive. This becomes more evident when people are placed in horrific situations. In Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, he reminisces about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. There the men witness horrific scenes of violence and death. As time goes on they begin to lose hope in the very things that keep them alive: their faith in God, each other, and above all, themselves.
Oppression is the systematic method of prolonged cruelty and unjust treatment, often intended for those who are deemed “different” by a hierarchical society. It’s a basis that can be found in the plot of a fictional movie or novel, but most importantly, it’s an aspect of both past and modern life that has affected multiple nations. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, is a humanitarian who embodies the personal experiences of what being oppressed feels like – how it itches at one’s skin like the hatred and stares directed at them. The reason he is so important is because of his stories; what he has seen. The insight and intelligence he has brought forth further educates those who had previously accepted the world with their eyes closed.
In Wiesel’s speech tone is one of the most vital components established throughout his purpose. By using several different tones varying from sympathetic, to disappointment, to doubt, to anger Wiesel is able to captivate the audience to listen to his words while not being dogmatic or forcing the audience to disregard his purpose. The multiple tone shifts affect the reader in many ways so that the reader and audience is able to gain a new perspective without being yelled at or scorned for what they have done. In Wiesel’s speech tone is a key factor in keeping the audience intrigued so that he may present his purpose of the danger indifference and how it casts a dark shadow upon a society. By doing this, tonal shifts allow Wiesel to bash the
In “The Perils of Indifference” Elie Wiesel uses several techniques to get his point across. Three of them in the speech are Ethos, Repetition, and Pathos. He uses a combination of the three elements throughout the paragraphs of his speech to attract the readers. The combination of these elements help draw the reader’s emotions and interest towards his subject. He focuses on word choice that would pertain to his audience’s level of vocabulary.
Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.
Having an opinion and or a belief is better than not having one at all. A great man such as Elie Wiesel would agree to that statement. He believes standing up for what is right by showing compassion for a fellow human being than for letting good men do nothing while evil triumphs. The message he passes was how indifference is showing the other man he is nothing. He attempts to grasp the audience by personal experiences and historic failures, we need to learn from and also to grow to be the compassionate human being we all are.
In his address to Ronald Reagan, Elie Wiesel attempts to convince the president not to visit the Bitburg cemetery. Weisel is well aware of President Reagan’s situation, and thus, he crafts his speech around rhetorical techniques, namely concession refutation, repetition, and the appeals.
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
A common example of injustice occurring right now in our own culture would be the glass ceiling. The discrimination and injustice minorities face in the workplace is immense and should be taken action against. However, instead, today’s generation does not want to take the next step and create a movement against this injustice. This generation has become so absorbed in technology that they believe everything can be done through speaking about issues on social media. Although, social media may not be a bad platform to begin movements, action must be taken beyond the internet in order the create a positive impact around the world. All in all, Wiesel is attempting to get future generations to stand up against injustice occurring all over the world in order to fix the issues the world
Elie Wiesel’s speech, Hope Despair and Memory gave in 1986 mainly focused on the great importance of remembering past memories that people tend to want to forget. The speech was very successful in persuading the audience to believe in the importance that memory serves us through the great use of pathos throughout the speech, especially the pathos that always comes from any sort of holocaust recollection. Elie uses such sentences as, “a young man struggles to readjust to life. His mother, his father, his small sister are gone. He is alone. On the verge of despair.”(Abrams, 1997) He helps to arise a strong sense of sympathy from the injustices that had plagued this time in history. This use of pathos makes it an effective use of it for it underlines the audience’s attention towards Elie Wiesel and makes them closer to his emotions an...