Humanity's Responsibility “And this is one of the most important lessons of this, outgoing century’s wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.” This is a sample from Elie Wiesel's “Perils of Indifference” speech. Elie as a Holocaust survivor and made it a job to show America how cruel and horrible it is to be absent during crisis. Wiesel uses ethos to show his knowledge and experience on the Holocaust subject, imagery to describe the suffering and cruelty toward the Jewish people, and rhetorical questions to convey how we, as a society need to be able to question our actions, as well as our inactions. One way Wiesel persuades his audience is using his own life experiences, and trauma to further express his intelligence on the Holocaust
Jewish writer, professor,political activist, Elie wiesel in his memorable speech “ The perils of indifference” asserts that being “indifferent” is a major impact in people's lives. He develops his message by emphasizing the world’s indifference. For example on paragraph 13 wisel states “Indifference, then is not only a sin,it is a punishment.” Meaning that lack of concern leads to “inescapable consequences”. In addition throughout Wiesel’s speech he talks about what indifference means to him and how it is not impactful to humanity and the inhumanity of it .
Wiesel disagrees with the idea of not making a difference. In order to act on the situations, society needs to show concern and not be aloof. According to the article, high authorities such as the Pentagon and the State Department knew about the Holocaust. Yet, they chose to be indifferent and continued to let it happen. Wiesel asserts such actions are inhumane and the mass execution could have been prevented if it were not
Lack of concern, lack of interest, lack of sympathy. These are all ways to describe indifference and none of them are good. Elie Wiesel made sure America knew that this is how they acted when the Jews were in desperate need of help. In the speech The Perils of Indifference Elie Wiesel uses hypophora, juxtaposition, and paradox to effectively elicit the guilt that should come from being indifferent. With hypophora, Elie is able to highlight the wrong doings that could have been avoided.
They thrived, then cried, and died. They were dehumanized, and so was society. Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis attempted to annihilate all European Jews. This systematic and planned attempt to murder European Jewry is known as the Holocaust. There were actions taken at the time to show that people were anti-Semitic; hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.
The speeches “Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel and Barack Obama’s Presidential nomination speech both use rhetorical strategies. They use these to persuade the audience to agree with their opinions. ” Perils of indifference” by Elie Wiesel persuades the audience to stop being indifferent because it is dangerous. In Barack Obama’s Presidential nomination speech, he persuades the audience to make America a better place. While these speeches both use different rhetorical strategies Elie Wiesil has the stronger argument because of his use of rhetorical questions and pathos.
During his early life, Elie Wiesel was placed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. In January of 1945, Wiesel was moved with his father to the Buchenwald concentration camp. This happened to be the place where Wiesel’s father passed away. On April 12, 1999 Elie Wiesel delivered his speech “Perils of Indifference” at the East Room of the White House.
Wiesel starts his speech by recounting an experience from his childhood. He opens his speech with “Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up…” Through reciting a narrative in a third person voice, he stylistically frames his argument on indifference. Wiesel admonishes those who chose to “look away from victims” because in not “offering them a spark of hope”, we are betraying our own. Due to the positive social reforms the President is undertaking, he is filled with gratitude.
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 his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Elie Wiesel strives to inform his audience of the unbelievable atrocities of the Holocaust in order to prevent them from ever again responding to inhumanity and injustice with silence and neutrality. The structure or organization of Wiesel’s speech, his skillful use of the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos, combined with powerful rhetorical devices leads his audience to understand that they must never choose silence when they witness injustice. To do so supports the oppressors. Wiesel’s speech is tightly organized and moves the ideas forward effectively. Wiesel begins with humility, stating that he does not have the right to speak for the dead, introducing the framework of his words.
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.
In the “Perils of Indifference” speech Elie Wiesel persuades his readers to understand that no one should ever be judged for being different from others. During Wiesel's speech he was explaining when he woke up one morning close to an internal infamy called Buchenwald where he was free and no longer felt joy; he never would again. “In a way indifference to the suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” This quote shows that Wiesel thinks that indifference is a sin, and that indifference is worse than hatred. Wiesel came from a place where society was composed of the killers, victims, and bystanders, of which he was a victim of indifference.
Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate and the author of Night, gave the speech “Perils of Indifference” on April 12, 1999 during the Millennium Lecture series which was hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. According to Bill Clinton, “The White House millennium program will guide and direct America's celebration of the millennium by showcasing the achievements that define us as a nation -- our culture, our scholarship, our scientific exploration," going into the new twenty-first century (White House Plans Millennium Celebrations). Wiesel was invited to speak about the horrific Holocaust, which happened during the years 1933-1945 and to try help move on from the past it as the world goes into a new millennium.
In his influential 1999 speech, “Perils of Indifference,” Elie Weisel brought attention to the problem of indifference in society, and in the government. After his experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust, he believed people were indifferent toward the dilemmas of others and chose to not care to help them, for their own sake. In his speech, he recalls historical events to prove how much the world has been affected by the dangers of indifference and forces his audience to self-reflect on this issue by asking rhetorical questions, introducing them to different points of view, and showing its effects. With this, he makes a call to action and with hope, inspires his audience to make a change. As history keeps changing, it is important
Indifference is tempting Indifference is the suffering of victims Indifference is more dangerous than anger and hatred
In this essay we will review the historical side and the persuasive writing side of Elie Wiesel’s speech “The Perils of Indifference”. We will give some background information on why they gave this speech. Tell you what appeals he used and if he used all three of the persuasive writing appeals ( emotional, logical, ethical ). Why the speech is very widely admired and cherished and still highly regarded. Also how the author used the appeals.