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Compare And Contrast Perils Of Indifference By Elie Wiesel

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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.

To start, the message that the speech and the book convey are extremely different, yet they connect through the common traumatic experiences that Elie Wiesel experienced. Though this might not make sense yet, it should after explaining …show more content…

Elie Wiesel questions and asks that even though people see photos, are aware and feel empathy for what is what is occurring around the world, why don’t they just do something? “Does it mean that we have learned from the past? Does it mean that society has changed? Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Have we really learned from our experiences” (Perils of Indifference)? Though that the holocaust has supposedly taught the world the responsibility of prevent, have we all really learned that? He also wanted to convey that indifference is worse than any other feeling such as hate. “Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction” (Perils of Indifference). Indifference is when solicitude is missing which indicates that there is a lack of awareness. Elie believes indifference is worse than hate because it implies that someone’s suffering isn’t worth rumination and consideration. The inhumanity that was put upon the Jews could have been stopped if people cared enough to take action against the Germans. Both messages are relevant and matter because they …show more content…

The speech had more sophisticated and developed understanding which caused me to interpret the text in a more profound matter. Meanwhile in Night, it lacked contemplation and felt extremely easy to read, despite the violent actions that the Germans carried out. It caused a restricted feeling of only focusing on what the text said. Perils of Indifference also felt more connected to provoking change and instead of being less personal, the speech was more directed towards connecting with the audience. Instead of reading a memoir about one survivors experience, the speech was something to be heard around the world and touch the hearts of everyone. Anyone can make a change as long at there is spiritedness excitement to do so. That’s why Perils of Indifference conveyed Elie’s message better... it caused a fierce passion within me to generate

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