The Perils Of Indifference
Elizabeth Nordstrom
Dr. Mathis
English 101-20
10/01/2014
“The Perils of Indifference”
On April 12, 1999, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel delivered the speech that expressed the thoughts of thousands of Holocaust survivors. The speech “The Perils of Indifference”, was presented to the entire White House, all members of Congress, and thousands of others to thank President Clinton and the United States Government for helping all Jewish people in the way that they did. There are hundreds of different opinions on the heart-felt speech, some saying that it wasn’t effective enough, and others saying that it was perfectly delivered for the audience and time that it was. Since Elie Wiesel went through the same hell that all other Jewish citizens went through, he was able to be incredibly successful in his speech.
Wiesel was raised in the small town of Sighet, where he spent most of his early life devoted to religion and contemplation. However, on 1944, when he was only a teenager, Hitler order his troops to invade the small town that he once called his home. All houses were swept clean of their families and their character, and the families that once happily lived in them were sent into the cold town of Auschwitz where they would soon be separated, starved, beaten and (mostly) killed. After five years of enduring the worst possible circumstances that any human could stand, Elie was finally shown mercy and was freed.
When giving his speech, Elie spoke about a young Jewish boy; another survivor, and how he felt after being freed. “He was finally free,” he said “…but there was no joy in his heart”. This is where Elie uses the pathos (or emotional) appeal. He uses this countless other times in the course of his speech due to the long and emotional journey that he had overcome. After some time, he also talks about the “Muselmanner prisoners” and how they felt when they were sleeping in town blankets, having their skin pinched by the cold, crisp air, as
Dr. Mathis
English 101-20
10/01/2014
“The Perils of Indifference”
On April 12, 1999, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel delivered the speech that expressed the thoughts of thousands of Holocaust survivors. The speech “The Perils of Indifference”, was presented to the entire White House, all members of Congress, and thousands of others to thank President Clinton and the United States Government for helping all Jewish people in the way that they did. There are hundreds of different opinions on the heart-felt speech, some saying that it wasn’t effective enough, and others saying that it was perfectly delivered for the audience and time that it was. Since Elie Wiesel went through the same hell that all other Jewish citizens went through, he was able to be incredibly successful in his speech.
Wiesel was raised in the small town of Sighet, where he spent most of his early life devoted to religion and contemplation. However, on 1944, when he was only a teenager, Hitler order his troops to invade the small town that he once called his home. All houses were swept clean of their families and their character, and the families that once happily lived in them were sent into the cold town of Auschwitz where they would soon be separated, starved, beaten and (mostly) killed. After five years of enduring the worst possible circumstances that any human could stand, Elie was finally shown mercy and was freed.
When giving his speech, Elie spoke about a young Jewish boy; another survivor, and how he felt after being freed. “He was finally free,” he said “…but there was no joy in his heart”. This is where Elie uses the pathos (or emotional) appeal. He uses this countless other times in the course of his speech due to the long and emotional journey that he had overcome. After some time, he also talks about the “Muselmanner prisoners” and how they felt when they were sleeping in town blankets, having their skin pinched by the cold, crisp air, as