Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel delivered his speech, "Perils of Indifference" in Washington, D.C. on April 12, 1999 thanking the Americans for rescuing his people from the Nazis. The speech as a whole was a reflection the 20th century. I think the purpose of him giving this speech was to promote human rights. In order to do this he focused his whole speech on what he feels is the root of all stresses on human rights, indifference. Wiesel uses many different methods to get his point across.
             He shows his appreciation to the American people in the beginning of his speech by defining gratitude and thanking Mr. and Mrs. Clinton for helping the homeless, children and victims of injustice. He even thanks his audience for simply being there. Wiesel uses the method of asking questions to get his point across. He asks numerous questions on the purpose of indifference in the world. For example, "What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary ...?"(lines 35-41)
             Wiesel also used repetition to stress his main point on "indifference". He used vocabulary to grasp the audience's attention and express how he was feeling. Phrases such as "eternal infamy" (line 3), help you to understand how strong he feels about what he is saying. Simple lines such as "In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders" (lines 88-90) is simple and to the point, yet it lets you know of the terrible conditions he had to grow up in.
             He also used sarcasm to make America seem indifferent to the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. He says that surely if people knew what was going on they would have "moved heaven and earth to intervene" (line 99). He then goes on to say, "the Pent...