The Perils of Indifference: Analysis

The Perils of Indifference: Analysis

Symbols, Motifs, and Rhetorical Devices

Rhetoric

Pathos...With a Little Bit of Logos It was fairly impossible for Wiesel to use anything but pathos in his speeches. The man had lived through hell, lost most of his family, and then dedicated his l...

Structure

A History SandwichElie Wiesel uses a clever structure—he brings together both his personal recollections and facts about the atrocities of the 20th century to allow the audience to both pick up t...

What's Up With the Title?

"The Perils of Indifference"Wiesel is not messing around with poetic or cutesy titles. He doesn't have the time—what he has to say is serious business, and he needs to be crystal clear about one...

What's Up With the Opening Lines?

Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He w...

What's Up With the Closing Lines?

Some of them—so many of them—could be saved.And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains. He has accompanied the old man I have become throughout these year...

Tough-o-Meter

(5) Tree LineElie Wiesel keeps it simple in terms of the writing and the transitions—you always know where you stand, and you always know the steps that got you there. But the challenge comes in...

Shout-Outs

In-Text ReferencesLiterary and Philosophical ReferencesJohann Wolfgang von Goethe (2)Historical and Political ReferencesPresident Bill Clinton (1, 8, 101, 112)Hillary Clinton (1, 11, 68)Ambassador...

Trivia

The Clintons hosted Millennium Evenings at the White House to toot America's creative and innovative horn. Elie Wiesel was one in a pretty impressive group of speakers. (Source) Elie Wiesel won the...