In "the perils of indifference" author Elie Wiesel ,talks about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He mentions that,"today is exactly 54 years marking his death." The 32nd president of the United States of America, did some accomplished wonderful things during the world war, for example got thousands of "brave soldiers" to fight in battle and fight fascism, dictatorship, and Hitler. However, because President Roosevelt did not do anything to help get the Jews get out of the concentration camps camps "his image in Jewish history is flawed." Why does the author mention the death of President Roosevelt and what is his purpose of mentioning his death? What is the tone that Wiesel is trying to get out of this paragraph? What does this paragraph
He conveys a powerful message using pathos: “There was… suffering and loneliness in the concentration camps that defies imagination. Cut off from the world with no refuge anywhere, sons watched helplessly their fathers being beaten to death. Mothers watched their children die of hunger.” Diction like “loneliness”, “defies imagination”, and “helplessly” create a solemn and helpless tone. It evokes vivid imagery, a tragic scene of death and despair. The juxtaposition of children, this idea of youth and innocence, and death evokes pity from the audience. With this in mind, Reagan would feel guilty if he forced the Jewish people to relive their suffering by going to the Bitburg cemetery. Wiesel then appeals to Reagan’s ethos. They both share a common goal – to attain reconciliation, and to do so, they “must work together with them and with all people” to “bring peace and understanding to a tormented world that… is still awaiting
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.
“Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” (Wiesel 2006, p. 34) Elie Wiesel is a humanitarian but better known as a holocaust survivor and the author of the book Night. Elie recounts the horrors of his experience throughout the book and revisits times which he had not touched upon in years. His book initially only sold a few copies but later on through this renewed interest, Elie Wiesel’s book skyrocketed to fame and he started his journey in his humanitarian activities which in turn earned him a Nobel peace prize and resulted in his famous speech, Hope, Despair, and Memory. In Elie Wiesel’s speech, Hope Despair and Memory Elie Wiesel reminds us through his use of pathos and ethos as a speaker of the despair that humankind can create, but through our recollection and memories obtained from such despair we can summon the future with hope of change.
“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me never left me” (115). It is important to note what the author tries to get at here. Every time he sees himself, he remembers that he had died. The experiences, the brutality, the inhumanity feel as if he should have been killed. Another example of this is when he first enters Auschwitz. “The beloved objects we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and with them, finally, our illusions.” (29). This quote not only foreshadows a loss of hope and a near end, but the words Wiesel uses in this paragraph really are responsible for its insinuation. He tells readers that, at this point, nothing they had brought with them could keep them from the truth; the truth they were about to
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.
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.
The truth is, he took a vow of silence about what had happened in the concentration camps. Actually, he had not spoken about it for ten years (Elie Wiesel Biography). Maybe not talking made it easier to not think about the horror. People tend to not talk about what they want to forget. Then, for those who believe in fate, Elie Wiesel was scheduled to interview Francois Mauriac. According to the forward written by Francois Mauriac in Night, their conversation went from work to personal. Mr. Mauriac was expressing how horrible it must have been for the Jews crammed in the cattle cars, and Elie Wiesel decided to break his silence and said, “I was one of them.” As a result of this conversation, Mr. Mauriac convinced Mr. Wiesel that his story was important and needed to be told, “he could put a face to the suffering of the Holocaust”. (The Life and Work of Wiesel). During a lecture upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize he reminded everyone that while they were prisoners, they were stripped of everything human. As a result, they lived in a complete void. They were constantly told to forget everything, forget where they came from, and to forget who they were. Mr. Wiesel described how the memory protects its wounds by trying to forget painful events. More importantly, Elie Wiesel stated that, “For us, forgetting was never an option.” Those that survived felt that they needed to document what they had witnessed.
Elie Wiesel not only spoke on his behalf but also on behalf of all the victims of the Holocaust. His words do not only pertain to his situation but to the situations of every world crisis that has been failed to be acknowledged. Elie’s words can be related universally and makes you question, where were these people that are supposedly suppose to be the voices for the silent? The world thrives for equality but how can a world grow and unit if the people are silent. Elie makes valid points throughout the novel that can be referred to other situations in the past and are to come in the future.
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.
At the age of 15, Eliezer Wiesel and his family were placed into concentration camps in Auschwitz. Wiesel accompanied his family for most of the time in the camps. He parted from his mother and sister Tzipora early in life and lived with his father during the years of the Holocaust. During his time in the concentration camps, Wiesel endured tons of pain. When he first reached the concentration camp Eliezer Wiesel witnessed the most disturbing thing. Tons of babies were being thrown into the air and shot to death. “As they marched closer and closer to the ditch, Eliezer decided that rather then let himself be thrown into the fire, he would try to break away and throw himself against the electrified fence that surrounded the camp.” (Pariser 23) It was at that point that Elie and his father knew that they were going to experience the worst years of their life. On April 11, 1945, the two were free from the concentration camp. He was silent for many years and chose not to speak of his suffering. Eventually he spoke and made a pact that he would never be silent again. Eliezer Wiesel stated, "And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” (Pariser 40) And Mr. Wiesel wasn’t.
Before reading the different articles on the “American Dream”, I did not know anything about the American Dream. But now I have a better understanding of it. We are living the American Dream. The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. None of this applies to us because nothing is equal in America. The reasons why I believe that we are not living the American Dream in the 1960s is because we are still living with “Discrimination” according to the Mike Brown case. “Indifference” has a lot to do with the way the society is today. Finally, “Economic Indifference” is also evidence that we are not living
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
It is beneficial that Wiesel published this, if he had not, the world might not have known the extent of the Nazi reign. He exposes the cruelty of man, and the misuse of power. Through a lifetime of tragedy, Elie Wiesel struggled internally to resurrect his religious beliefs as well as his hatred for the human race. He shares these emotions with the world through Night. Being confined in a concentration camp was beyond unpleasant.