Anthony Graziano
Mrs. Bader
AP Language and Composition
September 30, 2011

Perils of Indifference Rhetorical Analysis The Perils of Indifference speech by Elie Wiesel is one that is well crafted and that sends a strong message to the audience. Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, addresses the issues of the 20th century in his speech while at the same time explaining the dangers of indifference. Wiesel’s appeals to his audience, as well as his strong message and arguments are what make this speech so effective. In any powerful speech, the speaker communicates and relates directly to his or her audience. Elie Wiesel does a superb job of doing this in his Perils of Indifference speech, given in April 1999. His use of pathos throughout the speech makes the audience reflect on his words, and create a strong emotional reaction to what is being said. For one, Wiesel is a survivor of the Holocaust, one of the darkest times in the history of humanity. Due to this, sympathy is automatically drawn to the listener’s mind. When he speaks of his time in concentration camps during the Holocaust, he explains the horrible conditions that people had to live in. He then says about the people who were also there, “They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it.” By saying this in his speech, Wiesel automatically brings forth the emotions of the audience. Specifically, these details bring out a feeling of guilt. Guilt is one of the strongest negative emotions, and therefore forces the audience to formulate a reaction toward these events. Also, people throughout the world long for world peace. Because Wiesel’s audience is, in a sense, the people of the world, his call to end indifference in the world is one that will draw out an uprising in their hearts, a call to be better people overall.