Speeches are given for a purpose. Whether it is for persuasion, or education, or even entertainment, they all target certain parts of people’s minds. This speech, The Perils of Indifference, was given by Elie Wiesel with intention to persuade his audience that indifference is the downfall of humanity, and also to educate his audience about his conclusions about the Holocaust and the corresponding events. He was very successful in achieving those goals. Not only was the audience enlightened, but also President Bill Clinton, and the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, themselves were deeply touched by Wiesel’s words. The speech The Perils of Indifference was given by Elie Wiesel on April 12, 1999, which was the fifty-fourth anniversary of the liberation …show more content…
of the imprisoned Jews, and also the fifty-fourth anniversary of the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Wiesel gave the speech in the East Room of the White House, during the Millennium Lecture series, hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton. As a child, Elie Wiesel lived in Hungary until he and his family were captured and deported by the Nazis to a concentration camp in Auschwitz, Germany. He was the only member of his family to survive. Wiesel gave this speech because Hillary Clinton had asked him, a year earlier, to share during the Millennium Lectures. Wiesel’s audience was a variety of high-ranking officers, politicians, and citizens, and Wiesel touched them all with his words. Elie Wiesel’s speech was significant not because it had never happened before.
Many people have given speeches like his, but the significance of this lecture was the passion he showed and still felt for this Earth, and its people, after all the horrible events that had happened to him in his life. He tells anyone who will listen to his speech to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Wiesel vocalizes that being a bystander and allowing bad things to happen is just as bad, in his mind, as being the person who actually does those bad things. Elie Wiesel says, “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” Through his speech he tries to get anyone that is willing to listen to stop just accepting that the world is evil. He tells them to try and change it. The audience in the room he was speaking to never stood up and applauded. Instead, the audience gave Wiesel their undivided attention, never saying a …show more content…
word. Wiesel’s address is highly regarded today as a sign of hope for this world. The speech shows his hatred and anger towards the horrible events that had occurred in his life and the frustration he has towards the people that did not help him in his time of need. That is why he encourages everyone to never turn their heads at the sign of trouble. He wants everyone to fight for what is right. This speech is still highly regarded and will probably always be regarded as encouragement and motivation to destroy indifference for good. The emotional appeal was utilized greatly in Wiesel’s speech.
His emphasis was definitely on the pathos portion of the appeal triangle. He tells stories about himself and his suffering to lure everyone in to listen to what he has to say. Towards the middle of the speech, he shares his own sadness about the anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s death. Wiesel also shares his deep gratitude towards Roosevelt. He also expresses his gratitude to the audience and especially President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton. Wiesel says that he does not throw the word “gratitude” around lightly; that word really means a lot to him. In exact words, “and I am filled with a profound and abiding gratitude to the American people.” This statement pulls in the audience and makes them a little
happier. Wiesel uses another part of the Appeal Triangle known as logos. He keeps his emotions and feelings in check throughout his speech. At certain times Wiesel will give factual information which adds credibility to his words. At one point in his speech he describes the word “indifference.” This word is the focal point of his entire speech. Wiesel tells us that the true definition of the word indifference is literally “not different.” Another statement of factual information that Elie Wiesel gives us is when he tells the people, “These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations -- Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin…” Wiesel also includes the appeal of ethos when he talks about the experiences the “boy” had. The young boy Elie Wiesel talks about in his speech is actually himself when he was a child. The way he talks about the boy and what the boy went through shows the struggles and hardships he has faced throughout his life, which adds more credibility to his words. An example of Wiesel telling his story through that of the young boy’s thoughts is when he says, “He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again.” Elie Wiesel did a great job of keeping the audience in their seats during his address. His tone, his use of figurative language, and his rhetorical questions and remarks, kept everyone interested in what he had to say. Wiesel’s tone gradually changes over the course of the speech. Towards the beginning, his tone is more nostalgic and emotional as he recalls all the horrible things he experienced. He talks of the memory of himself in third-person point-of-view, and doing so adds nostalgia and a tinge of sorrow to his words. Later on in the lecture, his tone switches to more urgency and persuasiveness. He begins to vocalize much repetition, repeating the word “indifference” many, many times. He begins to ask questions, towards the Clintons, and also towards the audience. Rhetorical question, and also questions only he could answer. Wiesel’s use of “loaded words” kept the people under his vocal spell and under his control. He says that “Indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hope.” He emphasizes the fact that people can get so caught up in whatever is happening in their life that they overlook other people’s suffering and don’t take it as seriously as if it were them. Wiesel’s stand on indifference is clarified during this speech. His audience was greatly enlightened by his words. The wisdom gained by the people witnessing this was very appreciated. Elie Wiesel has given many spectacular speeches but The Perils of Indifference ranks up at the top of the list. This lecture will never be forgotten and will continue to be a model for the future of the US and many other countries.
An estimated 11 million people died in the Holocaust. 6 million were Jews. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel tells his story as a Holocaust survivor. Throughout his book he describes the tremendous obstacles he overcame, not only himself, but with his father as well. The starvation and cruel treatment did not help while he was there. Elie makes many choices that works to his advantage. Choice plays a greater factor in surviving Auschwitz.
Elie Wiesel shows great respect for America. He complements the soldiers, the first lady and the president. He informs us about how young he was and felt anger and rage towards the Nazis. He also notices the soldiers that saved him had great rage which translates to true compassion for one another. He gives us a great history lesson and who was indifferent especially towards how towns were miles away from the camps and did nothing about it. He impounded the heart breaking on how doing business with them until 1942 and we knew what was going on. He questions the indifference we had.
When Elie Wiesel gave his millennium speech on April 12, 1999, he could not be aware of the future validity of both his words and warnings. Throughout the use of rhetorical questions, personal anecdotes, and historical evidence, Elie Wiesel challenges his audience, both present and future, to avoid falling prey to indifference.
In the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the author displays the transformation and the evolution of the average human being, through a horrible experience that he personally went through. When he is transported from one place to another, forced to leave everything behind, to go live in the ghettos, then in a horrible concentration camp. In the concentration camp Elie experiences numerous events that challenges his physical and mental limits. Some of these events made him question his faith, and whether there is such a thing as God, turning him from a conservative Jew to a reform Jew. Elie doesn’t love the concentration camps, yet he doesn’t hate it, in fact he does not care anymore. At a conference in 1986 Elie explains “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference”. (Elie Wiesel), meaning that opposite of love is not hate, it’s getting used to use to the situation, to the point that the person doesn’t care whether what is happening is right or wrong. In the novel Elie experience physical, mental, and spiritual pain, that test his humanity and morality.
Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.
From being a bystander of bullying to committing murder are many ways of being indifferent. It is everywhere in everyday life in prospering countries and in poor and destroyed countries. Elie Wiesel knows how indifference feels and how it affects people. He was also indifferent and regrets what he did to this day. He was a victim of the Holocaust and lived through indifference. During his imprison ship he saw indifference everywhere in the camps. How he treated his father is what he regrets. He just cared about himself because another prisoner told him to. He believes his father died because he did not help him all he could. His whole book could be based on indifference if you interpreted it that way. From how the guards treated the prisoners to how kids including Elie treated their own parents. Indifference is a very big topic and a part of Night. Indifference is what pushed him to write his descriptive, emotional, strong, and outstanding novel.
In Wiesel’s speech tone is one of the most vital components established throughout his purpose. By using several different tones varying from sympathetic, to disappointment, to doubt, to anger Wiesel is able to captivate the audience to listen to his words while not being dogmatic or forcing the audience to disregard his purpose. The multiple tone shifts affect the reader in many ways so that the reader and audience is able to gain a new perspective without being yelled at or scorned for what they have done. In Wiesel’s speech tone is a key factor in keeping the audience intrigued so that he may present his purpose of the danger indifference and how it casts a dark shadow upon a society. By doing this, tonal shifts allow Wiesel to bash the
Throughout the Nobel Peace Prize award winner Night, a common theme is established around dehumanization. Elie Wiesel, the author, writes of his self-account within the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. Being notoriously famed for its unethical methods of punishment, and the concept of laboring Jews in order to follow a regime, was disgusting for the wide public due to the psychotic ideology behind the concept. In the Autobiography we are introduced to Wiesel who is a twelve year old child who formerly lived in the small village of Sighet, Romania. Wiesel and his family are taken by the Nazi aggressors to the Concentration camp Auschwitz were they are treated like dogs by the guards. Throughout the Autobiography the guards use their authoritative
In the eyes of Elie Wiesel, author of Night, indifference whether it be in relationship abuse or another problem, is mentally damaging and needs to be eliminated. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel illustrates how indifference can harm the mind of the victim when he says, “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live,” (Night 34). In this, Wiesel is speaking of his first night in Auschwitz. When he mentions silence he is referring to the indifference that the Jews in concentration camps faced from the rest of the world. Wiesel refers to that night as the time he lost his desire to live because he saw so much indifference toward the suffering of the inmates and the horrific things that were happening to them. After this, his desire to stay alive was destroyed because he watched as the world stood by, indifferent to the senseless murder of millions. Throught this, Wiesel illustrates that indifference will impact people for the rest of their lives. Because indifference
It was the end of the war and he no longer has a family after he was relocated and wiesel is basically a walking corpse. “And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed.” was written in page 91 which clearly states that he no longer believed in God. Now the last piece of evidence to prove that he doesn't care for others anymore would by when his father left the land of the living. On page 112 Wiesel writes how he felt about his passing ‘And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have something like: Free at
Indifference is seductive, inhumane, and the line between good and evil. Indifference is helping the enemy, it is death. Writer and Holocaust Survivor, Wiesel Elie in his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, argues that being indifferent to those who are suffering assists the enemy. He supports his claim by first defining and describing indifference as “seductive”, “tempting”, and “easier.” Wiesel goes on to illustrate the dangers of indifference by using personal experience and historical events as examples. Finally, the author creates awareness of indifference from the past, present, and future. Wiesel’s purpose is to describe why indifference is inhumane in order to persuade people not to be indifferent. He establishes a serious tone, critical, and somber tone for Politicians, Ambassadors, Mr. President, and members of congress.
In “The Perils of Indifference” Elie Wiesel uses several techniques to get his point across. Three of them in the speech are Ethos, Repetition, and Pathos. He uses a combination of the three elements throughout the paragraphs of his speech to attract the readers. The combination of these elements help draw the reader’s emotions and interest towards his subject. He focuses on word choice that would pertain to his audience’s level of vocabulary.
Many people wonder how could horrible things be aloud to happen. When people simply do not care, what can be the result? Indifference is the defining word that describes people who have a lack of interest, concern, or even sympathy. In Elie Wiesel’s “Perils of Indifference” speech, he is conveying that indifference is worse than “hate” or “anger” (Wiesel 311). In 1999, Wiesel presented a very strong emotionally spoken speech to President Clinton, other members of Congress, friends, and other officials from around the world in an attempt to connect to the audience’s emotions and to help people understand more about indifference. He delivered this speech to inspire the American people to take action in times of human suffering and violence
In April, 1945, Elie Wiesel was liberated from the Buchenwald concentration camp after struggling with hunger, beatings, losing his entire family, and narrowly escaping death himself. He at first remained silent about his experiences, because it was too hard to relive them. However, eventually he spoke up, knowing it was his duty not to let the world forget the tragedies resulting from their silence. He wrote Night, a memoir of his and his family’s experience, and began using his freedom to spread the word about what had happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again. In 1999, he was invited to speak at the Millennium Lectures, in front of the president, first lady, and other important governmental figures,. In his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”, he uses rhetoric devices to get emotional responses and to connect with the audience. He wants to create awareness of the dangers of indifference and show how there needs to be change. His speech eloquently calls out the government for their lack of response during the Holocaust, and warns against continued disregard for the struggles of others. He sees indifference as being the ally of the enemy, and without compassion there is no hope for the
To begin, Wiesel fought for human rights because he knew what it felt like to suffer. The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech Delivered by Elie Wiesel