A Critical Analysis Of Speech By Elie Wiesel

Among the multitude of unsettling statements Wiesel made in his speech, the one to disturb the most unrest within me was when he explained that for his people amidst the injustice against them, their fear of God abandoning them, expressing indifference towards them, was far greater than the reality of the same being done by their human brethren. Running with his thesis of the destruction of indifference, Wiesel also noted that the wrathful punishment of God would have been preferable than to experience the extreme disconnect from God born out of apathy. The conclusion that even during their suffering, God was still (silently) by their side tells me that hope is not lost. This is what hammered his point of the entire speech to me. In the paragraph

following that, he talks about negative emotions being more desirable than lack of life, the inhuman behaviour. It’s heartbreaking to realise that those inflicted with cruel inequality would rather cry out for anger, hatred, response, emotion, than the embodiment of nothing. In ending his speech with the announcement that this time, ignoring the problem is not an option, Wiesel reinstates the hope that must remain between stagnancy and change. This further edifies the danger of indifference and the responsibility of action we have as a human race.