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Perils Of Indifference Speech Summary

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On April 12th 1999, Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate, delivered a speech that would change the minds of citizens in America for generations to come. As part of the Millennium Lecture Series, Wiesel discussed his horrific experiences in the concentration camp of Auschwitz and turned them into numerous knowledgeable life lessons. The message of the speech, titled Perils of Indifference, portrays citizens around the world should discourage indifference being tolerated, and it is achieved by creating credibility (ethos in beginning ), by using strict logic and reason (logos used in middle), and by discussing the morality on being indifferent to victims of injustice and cruelty (pathos used in end). In the speech Perils of Indifference, Elie …show more content…

Wiesel is able to use pathos by telling the story of his childhood, which therefore amplifies the use of emotion in the crowd. “We felt that to be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one. For us to be ignored by God was a harsher punishment than to be a victim of His anger...”. When Wiesel presents his childhood memories the crowds’ atmosphere takes an explicit change from being condescending to apologetic. “And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy … I have become throughout these years of quest and struggle. And together we walk towards the new millennium, carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope.” The audience has this change in mood due to the horrific realities of the speech. He uses this change of tone in the audience to talk about the more serious subject of being indifferent and how it affected the world during the Holocaust. By Wiesel using stories of how his childhood was affected from others being indifferent it creates the call to action throughout the

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