Elie Wiesel's The Perils Of Indifference

Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor who was fifteen when he was deported to Auschwitz from his home in present day Romania. In his acclaimed book, “Night,” he recalls his traumatic experiences and states that “...Action is the only remedy to indifference, the most insidious danger of all.” Indifference in mankind that leads to destruction has been demonstrated throughout history in more instances than can be counted. The Holocaust, Japanese internment camps, slavery, and many more circumstances in which people have had apathy have resulted in the devastation of millions of people. Elie Wiesel and his speech “The Perils of Indifference” demonstrate the indifferent cycle that humans have fallen into. In fact, Wiesel has firsthand experience

of human apathy after having lived through a period during one of mankind’s greatest moral deficits: the Holocaust. Wiesel claims that if man can undo the indifferent ways of the past, the future can be an empathetic and opportunistic time for everyone.
The speech was given on April 12, 1999 at the White House; it was part of a turning of the century series known as “The Millennium Lecture Series.” President Bill Clinton organized the series to allow the mistakes and triumphs of the 20th century to be examined and put to use in order to help America in the future.

The speeches were publicized over media outlets as well as the internet. The widespread audience allowed for more people to witness Wiesel’s speech and take in his ideas that empathy is the best thing a person can display towards another. Wiesel wants the audience to recognize the ways of their past and change them to create a better future. Even today, indifference is rampant in the lives of human’s around the world. Whether the person is the victim or the one who is apathetic, everyone is negatively affected by indifference in modern society. Elie Wiesel effectively uses rhetorical appeals in “The Perils of Indifference” to communicate the purpose of showing the world how it must change its indifferent ways to create an empathetic

future.
Elie Wiesel motivates people to have sympathy towards others for a better future with the use of ethos. He uses ethos when he speaks of how himself and other Jews felt during the Holocaust and how he experienced their thoughts.

Wiesel states that he and other victims were “Rooted in our tradition, some of us felt that to be abandoned by humanity then was not the ultimate . . . [b]etter an unjust God than an indifferent one.” (2). This quote shows the audience that Wiesel and the other Jewish victims of the Holocaust are “rooted in our tradition.” This proves that Wiesel is credible because he is grouping his feelings and experiences with the other Jews. Even in the darkest of times, he carried on his traditions along with the people around him. This ethos drives the audience to be sympathetic because Wiesel believes that “an unjust God [is better] than an indifferent one” which allows the audience to realize the true damage that indifference can have one someone’s life. The fact that the victims feel that indifference is worse than “to be abandoned by humanity”

shows how indifference is a dangerous disease in society that must be exterminated. Wiesel experiences this disease with his own eyes, so he can convey it accurately to the audience. This will motivate the audience to change their ways and practice empathy so that no group of people will have to fight indifference in the future. Wiesel’s use of his own experiences makes him credible and allows for the audience to realize that they need to stop practicing apathy so that the future can be empathetic. The second example of Wiesel’s use of ethos is found when he talks about his life story and how he believes the future can and will change for the better and deter the course of indifference. In reference to his old self, Wiesel states that “He has accompanied the old man I have become throughout these years of quest and struggle. And together we look towards the new millennium, carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope.” (4). The support shows that Wiesel is credible because he references his “years of quest and struggle.” These years help the audience to understand that Wiesel has had ample time to witness the fatality and devastation of indifference. When Wiesel references “the old man I have become” and how his past self “accompanied him” he is credible because of his age and his firsthand experiences. Wiesel says that his old self and new self complete with his newfound knowledge about indifference “look towards the new millennium” in an attempt to rally the audience toward a common goal of a better future that overflows with compassion. Despite his terrible past experiences, Wiesel is “carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope” for the future. Wiesel, who has suffered things unimaginable, can overcome these obstacles to strive for a compassionate future; there is no reason that the audience should not be able to follow his footsteps. The culmination of Wiesel’s firsthand experiences and his hopefulness that empathy is yet to come makes him credible and drives the audience to have compassion and strive together for a better future.
Along with the use of ethos, Elie Wiesel incorporates pathos to encourage people to have empathy in the future because of the rage and compassion he compels them to feel. Wiesel employs pathos when he recalls his firsthand experience being liberated from a concentration camp and how he witnesses compassion after so much indifference. He states that he was “Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers, he remembers their rage at what they saw. And . . . he will always be grateful to them for that rage and also for their compassion.” (1). Wiesel creates a feeling of rage and compassion in the audience when they hear this section of the speech. He references how the American soldiers experienced “rage at what they saw” which paves the way for the audience to feel that same rage toward the injustice that occurred. This rage can become an effective fuel for the audience to sympathize with the people who are feeling the rage and also motivate the audience to do something about the indifference that allowed this tragedy. The audience also feels a sense of gratefulness when Wiesel notes that “he will always be grateful to them” and the audience will understand the importance of taking action instead of choosing indifference. The audience feels a need to take action now that they hear the effect that the “American soldiers” had on Wiesel’s life as well as millions of other victims. The pathos Wiesel employs allows the audience to feel rage and compassion alongside the American soldiers; this is an important step on the way to empathy. Another example of pathos is when Wiesel references the people in the Holocaust who suffered the worst from indifference. Wiesel recalls that “[T]he “Musselmanner” . . . no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it.” (2). Wiesel impels the audience to feel pity as well as the despair the Musselmanner felt as they waited for their death. The Musselmanner’s despair is shown since they “no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst.” In this, the audience can begin to realize that indifference is the reason that these people were suffering. When Wiesel states that “They feared nothing” the audience realizes their true despair as they were completely resigned to waiting for death. They were not trying to fight back because “They felt nothing.” The audience begins to feel pity toward the Musselmanner when Wiesel says “they were dead and did not know it,” because they were too weak to even attempt to stay alive or fight for their last shred of hope. The audience will use these emotions to create a compassionate future because they do not want anyone to have to go through something like this again. Indifference drove these people to the point where they hovered between life and death, and empathy can assure that this doesn’t happen when the audience has the chance to do something about it. Pathos is used in “The Perils of Indifference” to allow the audience to relate to the people Wiesel describes. In doing so, the audience is forced to take their newfound emotions and use them as fuel for a better, more empathetic future. Using pathos, Wiesel drives the audience to do something so that victims of tragedies will not have to feel these extreme emotions ever again.
Elie Wiesel uses pathos to drive people to commiseration, but he also employs the use of logos to drive the audience to an empathetic and hopeful future. Wiesel applies a logical example of when the world has chosen empathy over indifference. Wiesel acknowledges “[T]he joint decision of the United States and NATO to intervene in Kosovo and save those victims, those refugees. . . this time, the world was not silent. This time, we do respond. This time, we intervene.” (4). Wiesel uses logos to communicate to the audience that not all is lost. He says that if the world keeps intervening in crisis then they can consider themselves empathetic. Wiesel provides an example of when the world “was not silent” and intervened to “save those victims, those refugees.” This allows the audience to take another step towards empathy and start looking for compassion opportunities in their own world. Hopefully, because of Wiesel’s logic, the next time it is needed, the world chooses empathy and “we intervene.” This is bringing the world closer to an empathetic future by providing an example of when the U.S. did the right thing. Logos is used again when Wiesel provides a real world example of how indifference can damage people. Wiesel drives people to wage a war against apathy. Wiesel declares that “When adults wage war, children perish . . . [e]very minute one of them dies of disease, violence, famine. Some of them -- so many of them -- could be saved.” (4). Wiesel drives home the point that indifference is a terrible evil by claiming that “[e]very minute one of them dies of disease, violence, famine.” The audience is exposed to the toils of innocent children who were abandoned because of indifference. This makes it clear that the audience should take action so that children will not have to go through something like this again. By laying a foundation of a real event that indifference is causing, the audience will strive more than ever for sympathy. The audience will want to do something now that they realize the instances in which their indifference has caused pain and how they can create an empathetic future.
The future holds opportunity and empathy for everyone if the world can come together and change its indifferent ways. Elie Wiesel uses firsthand experiences and his hopefulness that the empathy is yet to come to seem credible and drive the audience to a compassionate future. He motivates people to a better future with the use of pathos, as he creates emotion that the audience can use to have empathy. By providing examples, Wiesel shows the audience that indifference is an enormous issue and how only they can change the course of the world to one of empathy. Now, the audience will realize their apathetic ways and live for an empathetic future, which is the only cure to the danger that is indifference.