Indifference is thought to be neither right nor wrong because of what indifference is--a lack of thought on a subject. However, indifference is not only a state of not caring in the middle of right and wrong. Elie Wiesel presented a speech called “The Perils of Indifference” in 1999 on the topic of indifference. In this speech, he argued that being indifferent towards suffering is just as wrong as acting violently towards others. Elie Wiesel builds his argument that indifference can be just as dangerous as violence through logical appeal, antithesis, and emotional appeal.
In Elie Wiesel’s argument, he uses logical appeal to get the reader to think how indifference is just as dangerous as violence. “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering …show more content…
The reader sees the irony of calling humans inhumane, by realizing the word humane comes from human. This gets the reader thinking about how being indifferent can be inhumane. The reader then can see how doing nothing can be as bad as doing something violent. “Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim…” (para. 9). This quote is presented in a logical way and is understood by the reader. It gets the reader to reflect and also sees how indifference always benefits the aggressor. With indifference always benefiting the enemy it is worse than responding in an violent and aggressive way. “It has been suggested, and it was documented, that the Wehrmacht could not have conducted …show more content…
“Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it” (para. 8). This quote makes the reader feel upset because they see how hatred--which is normally frowned upon--is not as bad as indifference. It explains the positive effects of hatred and shows the lack of effects by indifference. It shows how violence with is normally caused by anger and hatred is not as bad a indifference. “And that happened after the Kristallnacht, after the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship, which was already in the shores of the United States, was sent back” (para. 15). This quote elicits confusion and anger towards ourselves. It shows how people could have been saved from this hardship. This gets the reader to see how indifference can be worse than actually acting. “What about the children? Oh, we see them on television, we read about them in the papers, and we do so with a broken heart. Their fate is always the most tragic, inevitably. When adults wage war, children perish. We see their faces,
In Elie Wiesel’s argument, he uses logical appeal to get the reader to think how indifference is just as dangerous as violence. “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering …show more content…
The reader sees the irony of calling humans inhumane, by realizing the word humane comes from human. This gets the reader thinking about how being indifferent can be inhumane. The reader then can see how doing nothing can be as bad as doing something violent. “Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim…” (para. 9). This quote is presented in a logical way and is understood by the reader. It gets the reader to reflect and also sees how indifference always benefits the aggressor. With indifference always benefiting the enemy it is worse than responding in an violent and aggressive way. “It has been suggested, and it was documented, that the Wehrmacht could not have conducted …show more content…
“Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it” (para. 8). This quote makes the reader feel upset because they see how hatred--which is normally frowned upon--is not as bad as indifference. It explains the positive effects of hatred and shows the lack of effects by indifference. It shows how violence with is normally caused by anger and hatred is not as bad a indifference. “And that happened after the Kristallnacht, after the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship, which was already in the shores of the United States, was sent back” (para. 15). This quote elicits confusion and anger towards ourselves. It shows how people could have been saved from this hardship. This gets the reader to see how indifference can be worse than actually acting. “What about the children? Oh, we see them on television, we read about them in the papers, and we do so with a broken heart. Their fate is always the most tragic, inevitably. When adults wage war, children perish. We see their faces,