Indifference is out there and can be seen an unavoidable. The temptation to look away and to carry on with your natural ideas seems to be the norm. The thing that makes that so terrible knows the harm it can do just by looking away and not by making a difference. A man made a great speech commemorating the ones who sought and fought the indifferent to save him from an injustice world he was living in.
The speech, titled “The Perils of Indifference” by the author Elie Wiesel. He was a survivor in World War II. He and his family starved on small portions of bread and soup and alongside were brutal punishments like once he has been whipped twenty-five times for something minor. A few months later, after the passing of his family, the American troops came and save Wiesel. He then lived in Paris and became a journalist in 1945. In 1975 he moved to New York and taught at Boston University. Wiesel has won many awards, including the Presidential
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Medal of Freedom and Nobel Peace Prize after writing forty books of his experiences. This speech was given by him at the White House on April 12, 1999. (Intro Wiesel, 1999) He talks about a young Jewish Boy is free but no joy. He was freed by American Soldiers, in which he remembers their rage. He was grateful for the rage for he felt their compassion. He will always remember because he bears witness to it. That gratitude he felt that day he believes should define humanity. He hopes for the new millennium and wonders for its legacy. The dark history casts a shadow over the new one. He lists all the dark spots such as assassinations, wars, bloodbaths and tragedies. He has seen so much violence’s and calls it “indifference”. He then defines indifference is looking away when harm comes to a person in need but we turn the other cheek. Indifferent is easy to be seduced by and to shy away from victims to pursue dreams or goals instead to get involved with a life in need. You then label them as meaningless and turn away to look as the indifferent. Being in Auschwitz they felt like God abandons them. God was indifferent. You can be far from God, but know he wasn’t the indifferent one. He was suffering with them. Showing people compassion and why we care can truly make a difference in the world. We can bring hope to the new millennium. Volunteering is a key way to avoid indifference in a person. We also can fight being indifferent by just standing up for what is right and not avoid the troubles that are bring into everyday life. Bullying is a big issue to this day and is getting more and more cruel. Most people avoid it and not want to be in the issue but just sticking up for the little guy could impact his life in a great way. I am a new millennium kid and this is scary true to today’s standard. The indifference he talks about is seen today with many failures since that speech. I see the indifferent and see the threats it sends out on a daily bases. This man has gone through all this and gave a speech that needs to be heard around the world, but seem to only last for the time being. I believe Mr. Wiesel would be ashamed of our generation. We seem to turn the other cheek and not be involved in certain things. We make a certain person feel of less worth than an item or thing. That person may even feel useless and have less meaning. Indifference can cause just as much harm than the antagonist. It reassures the person that the antagonist maybe right and could prevent undesirable outcomes. I never heard this speech until I entered this class and I feel like that needs to change. We learn about good and evil but we also believe that being a bystander cannot be anybody of interest. My eyes are open to see the bystanders who do nothing could change and bring hope into a victim’s eye. The hope it brings him from the compassion you will show you the true meaning of happiness. It’s true what happens today. So many Americans turn to find the way for them and not help others along the way. I’m curious to how many lives can be saved with just a little compassion. Americans have been indifferent so many times throughout our history. I believe we are today with so many threats from ISIS and so many beheading videos sent and yet we do nothing. A movie coming out called “13 Hours: The Secret Solider of Benghazi”. Our ambassador needed help escaping an attack but we ignored his cries leaving him worthless and we as indifferent. We need a leader like Stetson Kennedy showed who the indifference of America were. He did by exposing the Ku Klux Klan by going undercover and reporting to the Superman radio show. He fought the indifference in our own backyard by going under cover as a clan member. He gains their trust and learn their secrets and reported it to the show. As soon as the kids acted out the scene of Superman and the KKK the parents finally stopped ignoring the problem and stood up for something. (Kenndy, 2015) America and the rest of the world still have hope. We need to come and fight against the indifferent and yet see the views of one another. The compassion we have for one another can out weight selfishness within us. We have to stand up for what we believe in and not let another victim go by without standing up for them. We need to hope, pray and love one another as if today is our last and prepare for a better tomorrow but expect the worst. Turning the other cheek is easy to do but compassion for another outweighs the greed for one’s self. Wiesel, E. (1999, April 12). [The perils of indifference]. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from The History Place website: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm Kennedy, S. (Writer). (2015, January 19). How superman defeated the kkk [Television episode]. In How superman defeated the kkk. Discovery. My audience is toward a younger crowed.
They are the crowd of coming to the age of who to vote for and why we need to look toward the greater good and not the indifferent of society. They must have background knowledge of history and also they interest of today’s society and comparison skills. I tried to discuss how we need to find a leader on facing ISIS. It’s an issue we face today and need to take care of. I try to also relate by using a historical fact to drawl them in and see what a leader does to take on evil in their face. I felt like I was telling the story as a professional who analyzed the story and retold it in a shorter more understanding fashion. I didn’t want my leader to get lost in the facts or summaries in my definition of indifference or put words in the author’s mouth. I then try to show the indifferences of today and how the struggle and fear is out there. I evenly try to give hope by assuring the reader that a leader is out there and in our generation. I feel like he is and he will someday take
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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.
Having an opinion and or a belief is better than not having one at all. A great man such as Elie Wiesel would agree to that statement. He believes standing up for what is right by showing compassion for a fellow human being than for letting good men do nothing while evil triumphs. The message he passes was how indifference is showing the other man he is nothing. He attempts to grasp the audience by personal experiences and historic failures, we need to learn from and also to grow to be the compassionate human being we all are.
The speech The Perils of Indifference was given by Elie Wiesel on April 12, 1999, which was the fifty-fourth anniversary of the liberation
In ¨Hope, Despair, and Memory¨ a lecture by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel talks about a few significant memories. He is a holocaust survivor, he wrote this speech and won a Nobel Peace prize. He takes his readers back in time by using imagery. Some know, memory is a powerful tool, Wiesel uses this tool in this text. As you continue to read, think of where you would be without memory.
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
callous to the death of their peers, and going so far as to murder fellow
Does survival require selfishness? I believe that survival is selfish because in order to survive you need to have some selfishness. This is supported within the novel Night by elie wiesel, the story Deep survival by Laurence gonzales and the story Is Survival Selfish by Lane Wallace.
”Lie down on it! On your belly! I obeyed. I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip. One! Two! He took time between the lashes. Ten eleven! Twenty-three. Twenty four, twenty five! It was over. I had not realized it, but I fainted” (Wiesel 58). It was hard to imagine that a human being just like Elie Wiesel would be treating others so cruelly. There are many acts that Elie has been through with his father and his fellow inmates. Experiencing inhumanity can affect others in a variety of ways. When faced with extreme inhumanity, The people responded by becoming incredulous, losing their faith, and becoming inhumane themselves.
In the novel Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, multiple examples of oppression and expulsion of a group are utilized to show the consequences of inner turmoil regarding the good of humanity and the justice of God. The profound use of anecdotes on his experience in the camps extend the importance of his purpose in emphasizing the impact of this tumultuous event.
On 12 April 1999, Elie Wiesel gave a provocative and thought provoking speech, The Perils of Indifference, at the Millennium Lecture series that were held at the White House in Washington D.C. The goal of Wiesel’s speech was to open the audience’s eyes to the harmful effects of indifference to a suffering population, as well as to contemplate how not to let those types of atrocities happen in the new millennium. Wiesel’s dramatic account as a holocaust survivor aides in the success of his speech about indifference. “He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart” (Wiesel, 1999). By utilizing Aristotle’s three appeals, Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, Wiesel created a successful argument against the dangers of indifference.
If a person had to choose between their life and someone else’s, they’d choose to be the ones to live. Selfishness is a terrible thing that can cause families to fight, it can cause wars, or the death of someone to spare one’s own life. Night by Elie Wiesel, shows many examples of selfishness. Sons leave their fathers to save their own lives, reluctantly feed their dying father and even kill just for a piece of bread. Humans are inherently selfish, it’s a personality trait that doesn’t care about relatives or lovers or anyone else.
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.
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
Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, describes indifference as “the most insidious danger of all” in his Nobel Peace Prize speech. Indifference is something that shouldn’t be acceptable, and nothing good had ever come from it. The effects of indifference are the benefit of the oppressor, the loss of all hope in the victims of injustice, as well as an increase in inhumanity of humankind.
Indifference will always benefit the aggressor, never the victim. Indifference is not having much feeling, so when the aggressor is being aggressive, they don't feel much. The victim is the one who will feel everything. For example when a bully is bullying another fellow student, they feel better about it or no feeling at all. The victim feels the shame, pain, everything there is to feel. Another example would be the Sandy Hook Shooting. The man who walked into a elementary school and starting shooting innocent people was an indifferent person. He didn’t have sympathy or concern for those who were shot, even for the children.