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'The Perils Of Indifference' By Elie Wiesel

1129 Words5 Pages

Elie Wiesel’s somber speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, demonstrated the harsh reality of the numerous evils harvesting in the world. The main evil though was simply indifference, or a lack of concern. As a young Jewish boy, he faced the wickedness of the Holocaust, imprisoned at Buchenwald and Auschwitz and also losing both his parents and younger sister. The speaker saw atrocious horrors and suffered for a prolonged amount of time. Why was this permitted? 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. His introduction and conclusion included both the thesis and main points. His thesis was clearly stated: Choosing to be indifferent to the suffering of others solely leads to more heartache, more injustice, and more suffering. Indifference threatens the world of those who are indifferent and those who are suffering due to the indifference. It is a sad, endless cycle if action is not taken. Moreover, his main points were (1) indifference may seem harmless, but it is in fact very dangers; (2) history is filled with the negative results of indifference; (3)

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