Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night, recounts the horrors he saw firsthand during his internment in Auschwitz. In his hindsight, Wiesel reflects on not only his own indifference, but the indifference of others who shared his fate. Along his journey, he comes across three different kinds of indifference: indifference towards oneself, indifference towards others, and indifference towards the world. When Elie first arrives at Auschwitz, he is completely overwhelmed. He meets another inmate and the three are all very optimistic about their futures. This is not the case for all inmates, though. The very next person Elie meets has adopted an indifferent attitude about his situation, and has become so tauntrimized by the hardships of life in a concentration camp that he does not care if he lives or dies. When he approaches Elie and his father, his only advice is, “You should have hanged yourselves rather than come here” (30). Because of his traumatic experiences, the inmate has become so numb even death seems better than the life he is being forced to live. …show more content…
When his father asks to use the bathroom, the man in charge, who happens to be another inmate, has become so indifferent to the people around him that he cannot empathise with a man who begs on his hands and knees in front of him. “The Gypsy stared at him for a long time , from head to toe. As if he wished to ascertain that the person addressing him was actually a creature of flesh and bone, a human being with a body and a belly”
From the time where Elie had to decide to fight for his father’s life, to the time where he questioned his beliefs, Elie has had to make many life-changing decisions. As some of his decisions left negative consequences, some were left a positive outcome. In the end, all the decisions Elie had made in the camps has made his life miserable or at its best. For better or for worse, the events that Elie encountered makes his life unforgettable as realizes there was more to life than he had thought of
He was finally free, no joy filled his heart but abandonment was drowning it. How dangerous is indifference to humankind as it pertains to suffering and the need for conscience understanding when people are faced with unjust behaviors? Elie Wiesel is an award winning author and novelist who has endured and survived hardships. One of the darkest times in history, a massacre of over six million Jews, the Holocaust and Hitler himself. After the Holocaust he went on and wrote the internationally acclaimed memoir “Night,” in which he spoke out against persecution and injustice across the world. In the compassionate yet pleading speech, ¨Perils of Indifference,¨ Elie Wiesel analyzes the injustices that himself and others endured during the twentieth century, as well as the hellish acts of the Holocaust through effective rhetorical choices.
Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor and successful writer and speaker. He’s written a very popular book, Night and speeches that also get Elie’s message across. While his book Night and his speech Perils of Indifference both illustrate indifference, it’s displayed in different ways. The effects, pain and suffering from the holocaust were described in the book and all this was due to indifference which was communicated through the speech. The two texts have common similarities, but also many differences as well.
On April 12th 1999, in Washington D.C., Elie Wiesel gave a speech during the Millennium Lecture Series that took place in the East Room of the White House. The speech was given in front of Mr. Bill and Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and other officials. Elie Wiesel is an author most noted for his novel Night, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and political activist. In the speech he spoke on his view of indifference and explained how it was negatively affecting humanity and the nation as a whole. The Perils of Indifference was a speech that successfully used ethos, pathos, and logos to inform, persuade and inspire its audience on its views.
In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie Wiesel is a young boy who struggles to survive after being forced to live in the brutal concentration camp of Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, death and suffering is rampant, but due to compassionate words and actions from others, Elie is able to withstand these severe living conditions and overcome the risk of death in the unforgiving Auschwitz. As shown through the actions and words of characters in Night, compassion, the sympathetic pity for the suffering or misfortune of others is critical to the human experience because it enables humans to empathize with each other, empathizing which allows us to feel the need to assist others which can often be vital for survival.
In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize as well his novel Night Elie Wiesel asserts “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Elie Wiesel clearly demonstrates that his opinion with the listed statement.
When in survival mode humans lose their sense of morality due to the fact that our body is going to do everything in its power to survive it’s a natural survival instinct that humans can't escape. Like in the book Night where during WWII the Jews are subjugated to harsh conditions putting them in concentration camps where their natural survival instincts kick. For example, it says "Fear was greater than hunger… Poor hero committing suicide for a ration or two or more soup" (Wiesel 59). This show that even though he knows the consequences of his actions he still does it in order to survive. This shows that his concept of morality has diminished and he is just trying to survive aiding the point that people lose their sense of morality when in
The choices we make can often have drastic impacts on our lives in the future because decisions lead to two pathways, one left and another right. The character of Eliezer from the novel "Night" by Elie Wiesel, and as well as my own experiences, suggest that choices impact our lives and our future. The character from Eliezer from the novel "Night" is a perfect example as to why choices that are made accompany regrets and choices that are to come are filled with curiosity. In the novel "Night," Elie Wiesel was a teenager born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania.
Every day would pass by with new obstacles and horrific torment. As one day would end he would be forced to relive the same horrors of yesterday countless times over. The events that occured day by day were now normal for him, “The thousands who had died daily at Auschwitz and at Birkenau in the crematory ovens no longer troubled me.” (Elie Wiesel 59). This is an example of how the soldiers dehumanized the victims of the Holocaust. Elie became emotionless and unbothered by the countless deaths that happened everyday. Not only was Elie, but every victim was losing their grip on humanity, if the Germans treated them like animals then that’s what they would become. The last shred of Elie’s humanity and spiritual faith had slipped away and into the darkness after the hanging of the young pipel, “Where is He? Here He is--He is hanging here on this gallows …
In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie Wiesel is a young boy who struggles to survive after be forced to live in the brutal concentration camp of Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, death and suffering is rampant, but due to compassionate words and actions from others, Elie is able to withstand these severe living conditions and overcome the risk of death in the unforgiving Auschwitz. As shown through the actions and words of characters in Night, compassion, the sympathetic pity for the suffering or misfortune of others is critical to the human experience because it enables humans to empathize with each other, empathizing which allows us to feel the need to assist others which can often be critical for survival. Firstly, the words of characters are
People all over the world are suffering or in danger and no one is helping. In the memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel describes what it felt like to be a part of the suffering and devastation of the Holocaust. Similar to Wiesel’s memoir, Martin Niemoller’s poem, “First They Came For The Communists”, expresses the feelings the author possessed in the time of the Nazi invasions. Lastly, Elie Wiesel’s speech, “The Perils of Indifference,” discusses how indifference can be adverse. All of these texts represent how speaking up for one another can be helpful and ignoring what is going on in the world can be detrimental. All people should be obligated to aid and assist others when they are in dangerous situations because bystanding only causes more
In the Holocaust, there were those who were silent and those who spoke up. Elie Wiesel said “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” I agree with the statement because being neutral doesn’t aid any side and remaining silent doesn’t help anyone either.
Morality: principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. In times of suffering, morality can fly out the window. The question is, is there a possibility to have morals when you’re struggling? Morality never leaves. In a time of suffering, there is such thing as morality.
On the other hand, the idea of self-preservation is emphasized when Elie and his fellow inmates meet their new block commander in Auschwitz, who encourages this notion and delivers to the prisoners a hope-inspiring message. The Block leader told the prisoners to “have faith in life” and that, by “driving out despair”, they will “move away from death.” This idea of self-conservation is further stressed when the block commander instructs the inmates to “muster your strength” and to “keep your faith.” (Wiesel 41).
Hate is gasoline. Indifference is fire. In society, indifference is the force that ignites the true colors of evil to emerge - to cause the darkest decades known to man. The concept of indifference, in more ways than one, becomes a predominant force in the life of Elie Wiesel, author of the memoir Night. Wiesel provides a raw account of the Holocaust’s horrors and the devastatingly life-altering effect it had on his character, intertwining the concept of indifference and its crucial role in the events that transpired. The undertone of the theme of indifference within Night is represented symbolically within the characters Moshe the Beadle and Madame Schächter, through the examples of father and son relationships, and lastly in the development