Fifty-four years after the liberation of thousands including Elie Wiesel from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Wiesel stood before the United States of America and addressed the flawed ideals that existed during the persecution of millions of Jews during World War II. Ideals such as indifference that still exist today. Human nature has always had a habit to search for power and take it for oneself and one’s own kind, leaving others to face domination without a voice. There have always been inequalities and oppression of people with different social classes and races, but none have been quite as horrendous and deadly as the the genocide of millions of Jews in the mid 20th century. Executed by the flawed ideals of Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust
…show more content…
By making connections between actions society openly considers wrong and those in which right and wrong has become ambiguous, Wiesel serves to find a connection between them in order to help the greater good of the world, as “These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two world wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations… And on a different level of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence, so much indifference” (1). By comparing several different situations, logically, one can see the strengths and weaknesses that should be headed in the world’s future decision-making. His allusions give evidence against the current attitudes and mistakes that have created havoc through the world for the past hundreds and thousands of years. Another example of a historical allusion used by Wiesel in his speech includes a comparison between the ill-fates of several types of people in order to show the results of indifference on the world. From “The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope” (2), one can see the parallelism he creates in order to further develop how indifference has affected negatively impacted the world. Wiesel’s use of …show more content…
In Wiesel’s speech he defines words commonly used in order to create a contrast to the true meaning of the world he is trying to convey. By questioning the preconceived meaning and notions, “What is indifference? ...the word means ‘no difference.’ A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil” (Wiesel 2), a deeper argument is created against the attitude of indifference he is fighting against throughout his speech. His definition of “indifference” serves to define the true morality behind the ideals it represents. By providing questions, Wiesel also persuades the listeners by keeping them on the same trains of thought as him. When asking questions such as “Does it mean we have learned from the past? Does it mean society has changed?... Is today’s justified intervention in Kosovo… a lasting warning that never again will the deportation, the terrorization of children and their parents be allowed anywhere in the world?” (3), Wiesel serves to create and define the moral boundaries of world events in order to bring validity to his cause. By skillfully bringing his own opinions through his questions, Wiesel’s use of questions asked not for the answer, but for the effect serves to further evolve his ideals and arguments
By making connections between actions society openly considers wrong and those in which right and wrong has become ambiguous, Wiesel serves to find a connection between them in order to help the greater good of the world, as “These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two world wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations… And on a different level of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence, so much indifference” (1). By comparing several different situations, logically, one can see the strengths and weaknesses that should be headed in the world’s future decision-making. His allusions give evidence against the current attitudes and mistakes that have created havoc through the world for the past hundreds and thousands of years. Another example of a historical allusion used by Wiesel in his speech includes a comparison between the ill-fates of several types of people in order to show the results of indifference on the world. From “The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope” (2), one can see the parallelism he creates in order to further develop how indifference has affected negatively impacted the world. Wiesel’s use of …show more content…
In Wiesel’s speech he defines words commonly used in order to create a contrast to the true meaning of the world he is trying to convey. By questioning the preconceived meaning and notions, “What is indifference? ...the word means ‘no difference.’ A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil” (Wiesel 2), a deeper argument is created against the attitude of indifference he is fighting against throughout his speech. His definition of “indifference” serves to define the true morality behind the ideals it represents. By providing questions, Wiesel also persuades the listeners by keeping them on the same trains of thought as him. When asking questions such as “Does it mean we have learned from the past? Does it mean society has changed?... Is today’s justified intervention in Kosovo… a lasting warning that never again will the deportation, the terrorization of children and their parents be allowed anywhere in the world?” (3), Wiesel serves to create and define the moral boundaries of world events in order to bring validity to his cause. By skillfully bringing his own opinions through his questions, Wiesel’s use of questions asked not for the answer, but for the effect serves to further evolve his ideals and arguments