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. The idea of indifference is extremely dangerous especially when the lives of so many people
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.
There are many examples that can be investigated about the danger of indifference. There is multiple righting that talk about the danger of indifference. There are 3 pieces that tell you how dangerous indifference can be “First they Came” by Martin Niemoller, “The Perils of Indifference” speech by Eile Wiesel, and “ The Kitty Genovese Murder. What Really Happened” by Jessica McBurney. Niemoller, Wiesel, and McBurney all openly speak about indifference and have life experiences and examples to support them.
Human rights are rights that all human beings are equally entitled to - no matter what race, religion, sex, language, or other status. Some rights include, freedom from slavery and torture or the right to life and liberty. However, these rights can be violated in a multitude of ways. For instance, millions of people's rights were disregarded during the Holocaust. Fortunately, Elie Wiesel was one of very few people who survived the terrorizing reign of Adolf Hitler.
During the Holocaust, six million men, women, and children were tortured and died. In the autobiography, “Nights” by Elie Wiesel he describes his experience being in the camps of torture during the Holocaust. Indifference is a main theme throughout the book and the Holocaust however, indifference can cause coldness in others and within themselves. Indifference shows how others make people not believe in themselves, giving up on things people love, and refusal of care.
“Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers, he remembers their rage at what they saw” (Wiesel). In the Holocaust six million Jews were killed. They were brought to the concentration camps in cattle cars. At Auschwitz one-point-six million people died. Elie Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference” uses ethos, pathos, and rhetorical questions in order to persuade people that the opposite of love is indifference and not hate.
In “the perils of indifference” Elie Wiesel gives a message of hope while condemning the past, and persuading the audience by using the emotional language, etho, rhetorical questioning, and compare and contrast to incite change. Elie starts his speech by bring the audience attention
In Elie Wiesel’s speech, “The Perils of Indifference,” Wiesel uses a variety of devices to convey the powerful feeling of how immoral the circumstances of the Holocaust were. He expresses how ignoring the suffering of others only leads to worse outcomes, the dangers of acting with “no difference.” It is worse than to act with hatred. His argument leads with sharing his experience with being at a concentration camp himself as a young boy (1). The horrors that no one could possibly imagine.
Indifference can be defined as the lack of sympathy or concern for others. More importantly, it is the active decision by many to not speak up against wrong doings. This makes crises last longer and do more harm because of people not speaking up. For example, Syria’s education is struggling, especially with wartime and the violence surrounding the children. In the text “Generation missing out on school in wartime Syria '', it states, “Experts say that puts a whole generation of Syrians at risk of coming of age illiterate, lost to a war that has killed some 140,000 people already.
Elie Wiesel is a survivor. He is a survivor because of how he was able to go through all that he did including, making it through the selection that his mom and baby sister sadly didn’t make it past. Elie Wiesel grew up in that prison as he says. He would see all the bodies, all the faces of little children that it affected. He and his father were chosen to work for the Nazis.
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?
Cydnee Lopez Ms.Trelease English 1010 23 October 2015 Rhetorical Analysis-Perils of Indifference Well known writer, world activist, and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, in his speech, Perils of Indifference, elaborates on on the topic of indifference, within our country/society and consequences and achievements because of it. The speech was delivered on the 12th of April 1999, in Washington, D.C., as part of the Millennium Lecture Series hosted by the White House. Directed towards the audience of the White House, Government officials, and Americans. Wiesel's purpose is to show reference to how indifference has allowed many good and and bad things to happen throughout america's history.
By having the last two paragraphs laden with questions, Wiesel suggests that society needs a wakeup call to the indifference surrounding everyone. Reinforcing his argument about indifference, Wiesel offers the rhetorical questions as a final food for thought about the indifference that surrounds society, which no one does anything to change. Wiesel, through the series of questioning, engaged identity formations in the audience's thoughts of whether to take action or ignore the problem at hand, forging a lasting impact on his audience’s future
Perils of Indifference delivers his message effectively, but not to the same degree of his memoir, for it isn’t able to explore these the horrors of the Holocaust, and use the same extent of literary terms because of its length