Elie Wiesel stated “The opposite of love is not hate, it 's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it 's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it 's indifference.” Indifference is the lack of concern or sympathy. Wiesel was a holocaust survivor. He had seen first-hand the horrors that can take place when the people with the power to help, act in an indifferent manner. A large portion of character is based on a person’s willingness to act; standing up for the injustices, helping those in need, speaking for those who have no voice. Acting is not something that is a natural instinct for all humanity. Some have to be taught to act, other have to be taught how to channel …show more content…
They are the building blocks that create the ability to act. All three depend on one another to function. One cannot be removed without the other two suffer immensely. Originally I believed that performance character was of the greatest importance. Teaching students how to act and how to achieve are very important components in character education. However, during my studies I came to realize that all three components of character are equally as crucial. As an educator, the character area I will emphasize in my classroom is civic character. Love and empathy are an important part of all three character components. Civic character teaches by example. It teaches how to act in love. It teaches students how to put selfish desires aside and emphasizes loving by means of action. I believe teaching civic character is the easiest way to show students how to be caring and involved citizens. Civic character is based on action, making my character education also based on …show more content…
After the first phase of the teaching process is complete, I will ask my students to identify the people in need around them. Who does not have a voice? Who needs help? Who is being treated unfairly? Then I will ask them what we, as responsible and caring citizens should do about it and discuss how it effects those around us when we do nothing (referring back to exercise one). As a classroom, we will create a community service project that the students find important. Then assigning jobs based on strengths the students possess and then helping the students set up their own project. Whether it be serving at a soup Kitchen, arranging a clothing and food drive, or even raising awareness for something they deem important. The key is to identify the virtues and strengths that will help them be better citizens and give them the knowledge and confidence to insert themselves in the situations that need their
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.
He says, “These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations,... so much violence; so much indifference.” (4). Indifference is shown by not only the people involved in these violent events, but also Wiesel’s audience as well, many clueless of these events. For one to fail to know and understand these events in order to stop and bring awareness to them is just as wrong as committing the event in the first place, according to Wiesel. One must also believe the event itself to escape the corruptive qualities of indifference. During the Holocaust, many did not believe what was happening and chose to then ignore it rather than do anything about it. The unaware audience and people in the 1940s thoroughly proves the corrosiveness of
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.
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
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
”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 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.
To the people in the concentration camps, apathy is a “harsher punishment” (Wiesel) than anger or rage, because anger has feelings in it, while indifference just makes a suffering person feel even smaller and more insignificant. Indifference in humans potentially goes against religion, because it blurs the lines between “light and darkness” (Wiesel). Throughout his speech at the Millennium Lectures, Elie Wiesel both enlightens on the consequences of apathy towards those who need help, and inspires hope for a better future.
Many different schools have the student’s help the community whether it is to pick up litter, help out the elderly, or anything else like that. At our school we have a program called “Keystone Club”. The keystone club is pretty much a volunteer community service work group. They go out and they help with food drives, they help with tutoring at the elementary schools, and they even help clean up the local parks in the area.
Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worse attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point were they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous example used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were. After being forced into concentration camps, Elie was rudely awakened into reality. Traumatizing incidents such as Nazi persecution or even the mistreatment among fellow prisoners pushed Elie to realize the cruelty around him; Or even the wickedness Elie himself is capable of doing. This resulted in the loss of faith, innocence, and the close bonds with others.
Elie Wiesel reflects on his feelings when he was a young Jewish boy that lived in and survived Auschwitz during WWII. Wiesel states in “Keep Memory Alive” that “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” Wiesel is alluding to those that stayed neutral during the war. Some countries were not willing to get involved and wanted to refrain from taking sides. Those that stay neutral when they see injustice are just as much accomplices as the ones responsible for the oppression. Wiesel also
“To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.” This famous quote was expressed by an even more popular man, Elie Wiesel. Elie Wiesel was a well-known survivor of the Holocaust and was the author of the book Night. He also gave an exceptionally moving speech, The Perils of Indifference, that showed how greatly indifference will impact and already has impacted the world. The definition of indifference is lacking an interest or concern in something. In the speech “Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel indifference is clearly stated that it is not the best for the world and that people should stray from the normalities of life.
Activities and philosophies that advocate for the connecting of communities with socially sentient beliefs and actions is what have come to be referred to as civic engagement. They are thus individual or collective actions aimed at addressing issues that are deemed to be of public concern. They can be manifested in many ways including; public service, civil activity, service-learning, crusading and advocacy to mention but a few as the list is endless.