Elie Wiesel stipulated a certain, demanding tone in his speech given on the topic of indifference. The use of rhetoric language he uses is compelling to his audience, it draws them into his claim of indifference as he demands for a change. “What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium?” Elie exclaimed to the President. He wanted the audience to feel society's grief to the topic and wanted remorse, change, and will out of the President to make the conversion of a better world, an indifference free world. To make the world great. The failures he proposed the world has had in this very millennium include; two World Wars, civil wars, and “the senseless chain of assassinations”. In the opening …show more content…
God being the object in hand, he speaks “We felt that to be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one.” The terminology he uses only grows his argument and pulls in the audience to jump the barrier of indifference and join his side. Including the ones suffering from indifference already being on his shoulder, using members of a religion to grow his appeal is ultimately the goal, to shed light to the non-oppressed on oppression and to reach a fast paced solution. Wiesel uses more rhetorical devices to plead his case: In the middle of Wiesel's plea to the government Logos began to appear in his words and effectively strengthened his tone and the assertiveness in his voice. “Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. 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, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The image he invokes in his words is powering, and fulfilling the void of the overlooked indifference that oppressors use against the
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.
Wiesel's assertion on indifference is portrayed in the crises of the “Armenian Genocide” it involved 1.5 million deaths. Caused by a man name Talaat pasha also known as “Turkish Hitler.” Talaat manufactured lies, one which the armenians had to be killed because they were ” rebelling.” The second reason was that they had to be killed because the Armenians were siding with “our enemy” the russians. However, in Elis speech “ The Perils of Indifference” he states “ It’s so much easier to look away from the victims” meaning that it easier to not pay attention to the negative things that are occuring.
American-Romanian Elie Wiesel in his formal speech “The Perils of Indifference,” asserts that we must change, and warns us the dangers of an indifferent attitude toward crimes committed against the rest of humanity not only to prosecute but to itself. He develops his claim by describing his time he spent at the concentration camps, and when he was rescued. When he share this he is using imagery to describe the harsh conditions he went through, and the joy he had when he was rescued by the “American Soldiers.” Through his speech he also uses repetition with the words “indifference,” “gratitude,” and humanity to emphasize the significance the message is is trying to convey with his speech. Lastly he also uses pathos.
Elie Wiesel is a thought-provoking piece that emphasizes the importance of rhetoric and its ability to shape our perceptions and understanding of the world. In this passage, Wiesel discusses the significance of great speeches and the power of language to move individuals and communities. Wiesel's poignant reflections on the transformative power of language encourage us to recognize the vital role that rhetoric plays in shaping our personal and collective narratives. Wiesel's message is particularly relevant in today's world, where language and communication have become increasingly vital tools for shaping public opinion and discourse. Wiesel highlights the importance of careful consideration of the words we use and the messages we convey,
In the face of oppression and injustice, silence is the voice of the cowards. In Elie Wiesel’s acceptance speech, he asserts that in discrimination, neutrality is as atrocious as the oppressors. Wiesel makes a call to action, conveying that people should speak up when met with other’s oppression. I am for Elie Wiesel’s call to action, because silence is a ripple and humankind depends on it. To begin with, silence is a ripple during oppression.
(2017). The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Elie Wiesel Speech The Perils of Indifference. [online] Available at: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017] Korff, J. (2017). Stolen Generations—effects and consequences. [online] Creative Spirits.
Wiesel’s goal is to get more people to stand up to the “bully” and address the problem. Once people rally together and acknowledge the victims, the aggressor can no longer feel superior to the poor group of people.
American Jewish writer, and political activist Elie Wiesel, in his sympathetic speech “The Perils of Indifference” to send a strong message to the audience. As a survivor of the Holocaust, he supports his claim through his speech explaining the dangers of indifference from first hand experience. Specifically in his speech he refers to himself, “A young Jewish boy [..] woke up in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald”(par 1).. In addition, Wiesel use of rhetorical questions is for the audience to question or to think about indifference. Wiesel’s purpose is to warn people about indifference in order to “save” our future.
The general statement made by Elie Wiesel in his speech, The Perils of Indifference, is that indifference is sinful. More specifically, Wiesel argues that awareness needs to be brought that indifference is dangerous. He writes “Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end”. In this speech, Wiesel is suggesting that indifference is dangerous it can bring the end to many lives. In conclusion Wiesel's belief is suggesting that indifference is an end, it needs to be noticed and taken care of.
The dangers of apathy were stressed by Wiesel in a 1999 address he gave at the White House titled The Perils of Indifference. According to the speech, "to keep quiet when injustices happen is to condone injustice and to undercut human rights everywhere. " This statement shows that not stopping racial discrimination when you see it; means that you support it. With his Holocaust experience and the approaching future, Elie Wiesel expresses the need to stop indifference to provide future generations with renewed desire and promise.
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.
In the speech, titled “The Perils of Indifference,” Elie Wiesel showed gratitude to the American people, President Clinton, and Mrs. Hillary Clinton for the help they brought and apprised the audience about the violent consequences and human suffering due to indifference against humanity (Wiesel). This speech was persuasive. It was also effective because it conveyed to the audience the understanding of
Rebecca Rickord Mrs. Graver English 1112 12 April 2023 The Perils of Indifference Elie Wiesel gave his influential speech “The Perils of Indifference” eat the White House in 1999. Wiesel was a survivor of the Holocaust; and due to this experience, he spent his life advocating for human rights and sharing what he endured as a prisoner in concentration camps.
Jonathan Dixon Mrs. Turner English II Honors 18/4/23 Title: Subtitle “Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction” (Wiesel). The Holocaust was a dark period in time, categorized by the discriminate genocide of many marginalized groups, most notably Jewish people. During this time, many chose to ignore the persecution of innocent people, deciding to instead turn a blind eye to the injustice happening with their knowledge. In “The Perils of Indifference”, Elie Wiesel uses pathos, rhetorical questions, and loaded words to emphasize the dangers of being blind to the suffering of others, using his own experience as a catalyst to do so.
Robert Niemoller’s poem, “First They Came…”, and Elie Wiesel’s speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, both deal with the fact that indifference has many consequences. However, there are some clear differences between the two. While each work uses literary devices to portray its message, they use different devices to portray different messages. Niemoller uses anaphora, pauses, and mesodiplosis to convey a regretful, hopeless tone, and Wiesel uses parallelism, rhetorical questions, and juxtaposition to convey a more hopeful tone. Niemoller’s poem