Elie Wiesel's The Perils Of Indifference

Elie Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference,” not only informs his audience, but also argues against indifference through the use of pathos; as well as utilizing repetition and figurative language alluding to the importance of memory. Wiesel opens by giving perspective in paragraph one recalling his own liberation from the Jewish Holocaust camp gaining creditability through his experience. His audience initially is the Congress of the United States including President Clinton, he keeps a formal tone of gratitude in the beginning paragraphs. Although he expresses his gratefulness, he slowly builds to his main point of the indifference the Americans demonstrated in an ominous situation. To emphasize his point, he uses hypophora to define his stance calling it an “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.” He then pulls back his secondary audience, the American people, by the use of
He acknowledged former President FDR earlier in his speech ironically saying how Wiesel’s own experience in the Holocaust camp lives in infamy. This also alludes to his closing statements that the ex-president is an American hero, not a war hero. He is utilizing parenthesis to show his point of, “his image in Jewish History is flawed.” During the war, many Jews were refused out of the United States and sent back to face inevitable death in the camps. To add to the heartbreak, he shows that even the so called “Generous Americans,” turned their backs on his people and the heroes of war were so few compared to the victims. He urges in his final statements to take action on indifference and states for the future children’s sake to change humanity. Wiesel has suffered long enough, it is time for a change in this world full of disease, violence, and