Elie Wiesel, the author of “The Perils of Indifference “wanted to get the point across that in many ways even worse than anger or hate is indifference. The definition of indifference is a lack of interest or concern, unimportance, basic lack of feeling. Being indifferent to someone else and their feelings is basically saying that their pain or grief is not worth even my thought. It’s a very cold act of not feeling another’s suffering or pain.
For most of us this is unthinkable as it is basic human nature to care about what others are going through. The author uses his very own experience in the Holocaust, but this could be applied to any circumstances where the world was indifferent. He discusses how indifference can be so tempting, even
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He reminds us that for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence, making them feel like their lives are meaningless.
One questions that arises in the minds of others is “What could I possibly do?’. Is it possible laziness or just being selfish?
When Wiesel speaks of indifference he talks of indifference in the following was; a lack of sensitivity, lacking of knowledge, and just plain ignoring. His words were so profound when asking for change. He states that indifference draws out no response. That indifference is not a response, not a beginning, that it’s an end. That it is a friend of the enemy, that the victim who’s pain is understated when he or she feels forgotten.
Wiesel is quite successful as he pulls at the heart for most. He asks questions that make you stop and think about this issue. He asks about the children, their fate, the tragedy we see in their faces, their eyes. He asks ‘do you hear their pleas?” “Feel their pain”. He brings it all back around as he talks about that young boy in the beginning of his speech and who he has become throughout the years. That we should be challenged as we go into the future in profound fear and extraordinary
In this world, people go through the process of dealing with both empathy and malice. As a matter of fact, almost everyone has been through times where maybe they feel understood by some and misunderstood by others. Specifically, in the book “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, a character named Madame Schachter goes through the experience of fellow Jews displaying empathy and malice during in result to her behavior. Along with this, the reactions reveal just how inconsiderate we can act when in uncomfortable situations. One example of the malice and lack of sympathy they provided her was during the cattle car ride to Auschwitz. During this ride, she went a bit insane due to the devastating separation of her family. Elie explains, “She received several blows to the head, blows that could have been
Many people have given speeches like his, but the significance of this lecture was the passion he showed and still felt for this Earth, and its people, after all the horrible events that had happened to him in his life. He tells anyone who will listen to his speech to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Wiesel vocalizes that being a bystander and allowing bad things to happen is just as bad, in his mind, as being the person who actually does those bad things. Elie Wiesel says, “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” Through his speech he tries to get anyone that is willing to listen to stop just accepting that the world is evil. He tells them to try and change it. The audience in the room he was speaking to never stood up and applauded. Instead, the audience gave Wiesel their undivided attention, never saying a
Indifference is lack of interest, concern, or sympathy or unimportance. Indifference has affected society and people in many different ways. In “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”, the theme of indifference is very prevalent.
In the eyes of Elie Wiesel, author of Night, indifference whether it be in relationship abuse or another problem, is mentally damaging and needs to be eliminated. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel illustrates how indifference can harm the mind of the victim when he says, “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live,” (Night 34). In this, Wiesel is speaking of his first night in Auschwitz. When he mentions silence he is referring to the indifference that the Jews in concentration camps faced from the rest of the world. Wiesel refers to that night as the time he lost his desire to live because he saw so much indifference toward the suffering of the inmates and the horrific things that were happening to them. After this, his desire to stay alive was destroyed because he watched as the world stood by, indifferent to the senseless murder of millions. Throught this, Wiesel illustrates that indifference will impact people for the rest of their lives. Because indifference
When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.” (Moore) While living in brutal conditions, Wiesel did everything he could for himself and others. He prayed almost four times a day for the ending of the holocaust. Fighting through starvation, Wiesel was never selfish and continuously worked to help other Jews escape. While helping others, Wiesel was still a young man with hope to escape himself and tell his stories to the world.
It was the end of the war and he no longer has a family after he was relocated and wiesel is basically a walking corpse. “And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed.” was written in page 91 which clearly states that he no longer believed in God. Now the last piece of evidence to prove that he doesn't care for others anymore would by when his father left the land of the living. On page 112 Wiesel writes how he felt about his passing ‘And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have something like: Free at
Indifference is seductive, inhumane, and the line between good and evil. Indifference is helping the enemy, it is death. Writer and Holocaust Survivor, Wiesel Elie in his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, argues that being indifferent to those who are suffering assists the enemy. He supports his claim by first defining and describing indifference as “seductive”, “tempting”, and “easier.” Wiesel goes on to illustrate the dangers of indifference by using personal experience and historical events as examples. Finally, the author creates awareness of indifference from the past, present, and future. Wiesel’s purpose is to describe why indifference is inhumane in order to persuade people not to be indifferent. He establishes a serious tone, critical, and somber tone for Politicians, Ambassadors, Mr. President, and members of congress.
Action is the only remedy to indifference, the most insidious danger of all.” Elie Wiesel asserts that the world community is responsible to interfere when acts such as mass murder or genocide occur. He says that “silence encourages the tormentor” and “indifference is the most insidious danger of all”. One must speak out against oppression so there can be a difference. When one remains silent and doesn’t act, they are encouraging the person responsible for the genocide, not the victim.
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
Wiesel is a mentally strong person because for most Holocaust survivors, retelling is reliving. In Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, he seems to have come out of “night” and have faith in God.
On April 12, 1999, a holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel gave an empowering speech called, “The Perils of Indifference”. In this speech he entices his crowd into believing that being indifferent is detrimental and should be avoided at all possible costs. Wiesel proves his point by using convincing examples from all the unfortunate predicaments that the world has experienced in the last 1,000 years. He continues his purpose by using comparisons to drawing his listeners in and further his point. During his speech, Wiesel persuades his audience that maintaining an indifferent outlook will only circulate the negativity that has been seen in the last millenium.
One rhetorical feature that Elie Wiesel uses effectively is pathos. By including the story of the young boy and his journey, the audience gets a sense of somberness about the events that took place and the situations the Jews were put into. When the young boy says, “Tell me, what have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?” he is questioning Wiesel about the impact he has made in the world. Those questions make the audience wonder what they have done to help the oppressed and all those who have perished. This part of the speech makes the audience feel a sense of grief so strong, that they are moved to help him in his fight against the people who have forgotten and the people who have stayed silent.
Elie Wiesel is a jewish american writer who survived the holocaust and currently acts as a political activist. In his speech, “Remarks at the Dedication of Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum”, wiesel talks about a newly built holocaust museum and how he believes it can impact the future. In his “Pearls of indifference speech, he reflects on the past century. These two speeches compare in ways such as talking about the future and ,but they differ in how they are structured.
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.