Summary Of Elie Wiesel's The Perils Of Indifference

Holocaust Survivor, Elie Wiesel, in his speech, “The Perils of Indifference” (1999), vouches that having an apathetic attitude to a situation is dangerous a society in need of help. He supports his claim by gaining credibility from his audience and uses imagery to help, then addresses briefly about his past life and an example of when indifference occurred, and finally, shoves everything that transpired in the past and hints what we can do differently in the future. Wiesel’s purpose is to entice the audience to not be indifferent to what is happening around the world, but to see how society could all help. Throughout the speech, there are a couple of different tones such as gratuitous, passive, and grateful for his audience to make a change. …show more content…
“Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again. Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers, he remembers their rage at what they saw.” He utilizes this part of his past to show that he is a credible source for this subject. With this quote Wiesel shows his credibility. “He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again.” Furthermore, Wiesel establishes an emotional connection with the audience when he reveals how he feels the day he was liberated. “These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, …show more content…
All used to persuade the audience on not having an apathetic attitude. The structure in the beginning of the speech has a time when Wiesel defines the term, “Indifferent”. “What is indifference? Etymologically, 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 defines the term to match the description of how he feels about the word. The way he defines the word is that to have an indifferent attitude you are helping no one. Societies in wish for help are not able to receive any due to our disinterested attitudes. With the term that is defined it helps Wiesel accomplish his purpose that bearing an indifferent attitude helps no one. Having that attitude you subsist not exist. Many tropes and schemes are present in the text, and imagery. “Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner..," and, “Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were…” This backs his claim