Preview

10 page paper on indifference

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3357 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
10 page paper on indifference
At this very moment four people have died by the time this sentence ends (Gorman 1). People live and pass away it is natural, but what isn’t natural is the way a lot of these people die. Around the world there is human trafficking, terrorist attacks, and starving people that would do anything for a piece of bread, and we are still sitting here doing nothing to help. There have been many evil things that have taken place that we could have helped stop, but we did not. For example: A long time ago in 1941-1945, a horrible genocide had taken place. It was called the Holocaust, and many people have died from it. The people in America did nothing to help as the innocent people were gassed to death. Another example is the genocide in Rwanda. It was an argument between two different tribes, and it caused millions of people to die in a little more than one-hundred days. America could have stepped in, but we just waited until the death toll reached close to a million. The people in America just worry about ourselves thinking that we can’t make a difference. Elie Wiesel address’s this issue, and he creates a speech explaining how we are indifferent. There are many things in the world that we could stop and prevent; as a nation we should not be indifferent. (Gorman 1).
Elie Wiesel got a powerful point across in his speech. He showed his master of skill, and Wiesel used certain techniques and certain words that caught a lot of people’s attention. His speech took place in Washington D.C. on April 12th 1999 as part of the Millennium. Wiesel’s speech touched the story of survival as well as points about indifference and his opinion and feelings about it. As he explains "Indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor/ never its victim, whose pains magnified when he or she feels forgotten" (Wiesel 2). This quote means that indifference is always the friend of the enemy. The lack of interest or sympathy for the victims will create even worse



Cited: “GATO” *Inventory of Globalization Anti-Terrorism Organisation (Gato)." n.pag. Globalization Anti-Terrorism Organisation. Web. 23 Jan 2013. "Information on over 104,000 terrorist attacks." (2012): n.pag. Global Terrorism Database. Web. 23 Jan 2013. "Key Events in the History of Wiretapping (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 8 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. “Wiesel, Elie” the perils of indifference, American Rhetoric.com, 26 January 2012 from web. "Working Methods." Counter Terrorism Committee (2011): 1. UN Counter-Terrorism Committee. Web. 2 Feb 2013. "9/11 Attacks." 9/11 (2012): 1-2. History.com. Web. 23 Jan 2013.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Elie Wiesel’s Night, Martin Niemöller’s poem, First They Came for the Communists and Eve Bunting’s, The Terrible Things, all share the same theme with one another. The theme of these passages is that no one stood up for individuals, mostly in times where it was crucial. By not doing something to help, it created great despair and sorrow. Those who didn’t receive help were confused as to why nobody would do something to assist them, especially in time of need. Those who didn’t help assumed the best and made excuses as to why the people taken deserved to go.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ellie Wiesel expressed in his speech how bystanders should take action when they see injustice of any sorts and not keep quiet. ¨Who would allow such crimes….How could the world remain silent¨(Wiesel), he tells the reader how everyone knew that they were suffering that people were dying and yet they did nothing to help but instead ignored it. He stresses how people should have done something to help them instead of ignoring them. Even if they…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay Week 1 Com 220

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I chose to read the speech made by Elie Weisel about indifference around the world today and in the past. This speech was very touching in my opinion and I believed showed examples of Bias, Rhetorical devices, and argumentation. Elie Weisel was able to connect with his listener by sharing his heartbreaking and emotional experience. He then talked about other instances where injustice occurred around the world. Elie Weisel made good arguments as to why we we do and why we cannot ignore these injustices. We must stand up and fight against those who oppress. It is so easy to ignore something happening right next to you when it does not affect you. Live and let live, don't ask don't tell, what I cant see cant hurt me...All of these things we say to ourselves to feel better about not standing up against evil. Feel better about being selfish human beings. In this essay I will discuss the different Arguments made, how these arguments and counter arguments were addressed and how effective Elie Weisel’s speech was.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meanwhile, according to “Sudan Backgrounder,” “With the international community focused on resolving the conflicts between the north and the south, a growing conflict in Darfur was virtually ignored.” Evidently, the conflict in Darfur is ignored allowing the violence to grow in the area. The point Wiesel made is clearly supported by the events occurring in the world. Even after he delivers his speech, indifference continually grows. The indifference of the Sudan President causes chaos in Darfur---the attacks, the deaths, the danger existent in Darfur is because of the cruelty the president has.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elie Wiesel’s relationship with humanity changes from frustrated towards the Jews to awareness of what it happening as he moves through the 2 ghettos in Sighet. When Elie was in the ghetto the Germans were not lashing out on them but left them to live in a community where all Jews were segregated from non-Jews, and soon they started to see what…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After that, they would continue the poisonous gas treatment to other people. If you were one that would have to work you would be fed very small amounts of food and have to work and live in some very horrible conditions that are fit for no humans to live in. The speaker had to go through this so he knows what it feels like to be treated like that and felt abandoned. Elie Wiesel's speech “The Perils of Indifference,” uses pathos and logos to warn the President, Congress and the bystanders about all the pain and suffering that occurred during the Holocaust. First and foremost Elie Wiesel gave a speech about the Holocaust which was titled “The Perils of Indifference.”…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nobel Peace Prize winner, renowned scholar, and author of over fifty books, Elie Wiesel is a name with worldwide recognition. In addition to his literary and scholarly accomplishments, Wiesel is also recognized as an eminent champion and defender of human rights for both the work he has done in the field, as well as his own status as a Holocaust survivor (“Elie Wiesel”). Wiesel believes indifference, or the lack of sympathy towards others, as being the devastating culprit in dividing humanity. In this rhetorical analysis of Wiesel’s speech “The Perils of Indifference” I will explain how Wiesel uses the concepts of ethos, logos, pathos, and other rhetorical devices to make this a powerful and timeless speech in hopes to eliminate…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Elie Wiesel's nobel prize acceptance speech, Wiesel uses this platform to delegate and urge people to remember the holocaust, that they may learn from his experiences and understand his mission, using both emotion and moral ethics, Wiesel takes a stand that no person may feel at peace until the matter is resolved. In his speech wiesel gives his statements due to his feeling and urge to reach out due to the terrible memories that haunt him and as an example he uses is when he talks about the little boy ¨And now the boy is turning to me: "Tell me," he asks. "What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?" here Wiesel expresses his feelings for the past, that it urges him to do more; using an example of his past self…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    At a time when one should be energetic, lively, and healthy, Wiesel became exhausted to the point he would compare himself to a “withered tree”. However, Wiesel was not the only one like this. Witnessing everyone else lose hope, as they became more exhausted with each day passing, made it difficult for him to not follow suit. In other words, a loss of faith in humanity and himself, led to his loss of innocence. In addition to his loss of faith in humanity and himself, he also lost faith in God. Irving Halperin, an English and creative writer, as well as, professor at San Francisco State University, wrote, “'Why should I bless His name?' This outcry is the sign of, as François Mauriac says in his foreword to the book, 'the death of God in the soul of a child who suddenly discovers absolute evil.' And this breakdown of religious faith calls forth Eliezer's resolve 'never to forget'” (Halperin 32). Halperin argues that due to his loss of faith in God, Wiesel lost his innocence. During his time in the concentration camps, Wiesel witnessed people praying to God, time and time again. However, God did not answer them; children, women, and men continued to die as each day…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Elie Wiesel's Speech

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page

    I completely agree! I thought Elie Wiesel’s speech was very moving! How often do we turn our heads from the hurt and suffering? I know that I am sometime uncomfortable with watching people suffer but I often don’t do anything about it. I know that there are hungry people in different countries. However, I don’t send money to organizations that will feed the hungry. I want to be a very generous person, but we all have our limits. Especially, since I am in high school I have a hard time saving money and also giving money. Even though I can’t give a lot of money I can volunteer my time. I believe that a lot of what Elie Wiesel still rings…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nearing the end of World War II, a young Wiesel, among many others, was rescued from the concentration camp in Auschwitz and was finally free from the grasp of the wicked Nazis. After his freedom, Wiesel did all he could through his literary works to let the world know of the horrors he experienced at the hands of the Nazis. He received a Nobel Peace prize for his messages to the world. In 1999, he gave a very prominent speech about oppressors and the indifference of Man, apathetic to the suffering of the holocaust victims.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Equally important, Wiesel’s form of parallel structure and comparisons to deliver a well-balance phrase that pleases the audience so they can comprehend the concept of indifference in a different perspective. Furthermore, Wiesel declares his questioning towards the audience about the definition of indifference as well as adding several contradicting comparisons of how indifference initially affects society, “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” (2) In this case, this quote states how indifference can be viewed in society. Therefore, Wiesel arranges his…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wiesel’s ¨Nobel Peace Prize Speech” impacted and motivated us to look on the bright side. He has taught us never to give up everything in life will improve people will go through tough times but it will always get better. He taught us some one always has It worse. “It pleases me because I may say that this honor belongs to all the survivors and their children, and through us, to the Jewish people with whose destiny I have always identified.” he means that he doesn't get all the credit for having it bad there is others that had it worse going through the same thing. He said he never gave up and had hoped through the whole thing. He was given the Nobel peace prize in honor of all he has taught us and how brave he has been. It teaches us that he didn't do it alone people are always there to help you out.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This created more problems for the prisoners of the concentration camps. For example in the article "The Perils of Indifference" it says, "in a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman." This is Elie Wiesel telling the president that when people decide to not do anything or to be indifferent it makes them part of the problem. Another example of this is in the article "The Perils of Indifference" where the author says, "when adults wage war, children perish." This shows indifference because it proves that when people do not think about others it could ruin their lives. In conclusion, indifference causes difficulties for…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Terrorist Groups

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Combs, Cynthia (2013) Terrorism in the Twenty- First Century, 7th ed, Ch. 5, published by Pearson Publishing…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics