Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Devices

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.

The world is cruel and harsh; what does it take to prove that you and your experiences are capable of persuasion. In this world, you’d want as many allies as possible, and building emotional bridges with others is a definite way of proving that you matter to others. It’s a matter of philosophy; human nature emphasizes on individual existence; therefore rhetoric is effective to measure one’s importance. Elie Wiesel, a man of age, is a jewish holocaust survivor who has a story to tell and a story to be heard. Does the man have what it takes to prove himself worthy of a rhetoric leader? Elie Wiesel’s speech, The Perils of Indifference, Mr. Wiesel takes advantage of rhetorical questions and the appeals of pathos and logos to persuade and inform the audience about their inner indifference towards the havoc happening around the world.

Rhetorical devices are structures used in literature, to convey ideas to an audience. Such devices can be used to appeal to a group logically, emotionally, and ethically. Yet, how people incorporate rhetoric into a form of literature can differ. George W. Bush and Patrick Henry, have both given speeches using rhetorical devices. Henry’s and Bush’s speeches were different in style because of the differences in how Bush and Henry argued, how they used allusions, and how pathos was applied into the speeches.

People often begin to lose faith in God because of the results they faced from their life experiences. Some face things that seem cruel and unbearable while others are “confronted with the information presented from another viewpoint that rejects God” (Gospel Billboards). Elie was told by his father to never lose his faith in God, it would help him get through tough times and keep him strong. The faith is the only strong force that helped Elie Wiesel get through the Holocaust. Through experiences that involve cruel and unbearable moments, people start questioning whether God has the answers to life’s problems. This results in faith beginning to weaken, people stop communicating with God, which makes it easier for one’s faith to diminish. We encounter Elie questioning and refusing God, but also see his contradictory behavior he exhibits to praise. However, throughout the book, Eliezer witnesses and experiences things that leads him to lose his faith in his religion. The longer he stays in the concentration camps, the more he experiences and sees cruelty and suffering. Eliezer believes that people who pray to a God who allows their families to suffer and die are more stronger and forgiving to God. Elie was angry at God, he thought God didn’t deserve his praises or honors because he expected God to come save him but he never did. He observes people die and others around him slowly lose hope, starve, Elie ceases to believe that God could exist at all now. “Where He is? This

In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when he loses faith in God. ¨But there were those who said we should fast, precisely because it was dangerous to do so. We needed to show God that even here, locked in hell, we were capable of singing His praises¨ (Wiesel 69). Wiesel is losing faith in God and not believing in him. Wiesel believes that he could still pray for God, even though he thinks God does not answer his prayers. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are losing faith in God and disbelief.

The Book Night By Elie Wiesel demonstrates the evilness and insanity that is found in every human being, and is depicted through rhetorical devices to make the point more clear. At Elie’s arrival to Auschwitz ( a concentration camp) he watches people being burned, telling the reader that, “never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies were transformed into smoke under the silent sky. “ (pg 34) In this moment it is hard to believe that human beings are capable of doing such a thing, ruthlessly murdering thousands of people all at once, without blinking an eye.

Elie Wiesel uses many different styles to present his main purpose, one of the most widely used is anaphora. He does this to help the audience further develop a context of the situations Wiesel went through as a child. Wiesel asserts, “ They no longer feel pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it,” this creates a reaction of the audience to feel sympathy for the “musselmanners” that were left to die, it also forces the audience to imagine the horrific details of Wiesel’s childhood. Furthermore, towards the end of his speech to change tones to appeal to the audience while he questions the American government on why they chose not to intervene. He then creates another tonal shift, patronizing

Elie was a holocaust victim who was almost forced, by other jews, into a furnace, by order of the Nazis. “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” Elie was very religious before the Holocaust and yet on the first night at Auschwitz he lost his faith in God. He regained faith

Elie’s faith before being exposed to the concentration camps is apparent and he works hard to strengthen and grow his faith. All throughout Night, Wiesel shows the eminent effect faith has on individual’s actions and attitude. At the beginning of Night, Elie’s faith is a key feature of his lifestyle and attitude. Studying under the wisdom of Moishe the Beadle, Elie can put his faith in retrospect as he says, “In the course of those evenings I became convinced that Moishe the Beadle would help me enter eternity, into that time when question and answer would become one” (Wiesel 5). It is very clear that Elie is very emotionally and physically invested in his faith. Before camp Elie was so eager to expand and connect to his faith in which he becomes, “convinced” that he fully understands his faith proving him to be a devout Jewish boy. Thus because, Moishe the Beadle is helping him “enter eternity” and build his faith. Elie’s whole life revolves

As Elie gets used to his new life in such a hellish state, he realizes that the trusting and faithful child that he once had been had been taken away along with his family and all else that he had ever known. While so many others around him still implore the God of their past to bring them through their suffering, Wiesel reveals to the reader that although he still believes that there is a God, he no longer sees Him as a just and compassionate leader but a cruel and testing spectator.

One way that shows Elie loss of faith in religion is that he refuse to participate and enjoy the religious holidays. Once a religious Jewish who study the Kabbalah, Elie did not enjoy Rosh Hashana and pray like the other Jews. He also decided not to fast during Yom Kippur. “And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup. I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against him”(Wiesel, 69). Wiesel uses words such as silence, rebellion, and protests against him to bring out the anger in Elie’s voice and feeling. He realizes that faith does not help you survive. Elie’s refusal to participate in these holidays indicates the beginning process of losing his faith.

Elie Wiesel’s use of rhetorical questions helps make his essay interact with the reader. Rhetorical question is where a the writer asks a question, but it is not answered by the writer but by the reader because the answer is straightforward. Writers use these as a way to add effect, emphasis, and provocation. The first example of this rhetorical device is when Elie Wiesel states, “Would this terrible act drive us apart, I asked myself, or draw us together as a nation? (Wiesel 2)”.

The last rhetorical device that Elie Wiesel uses to make his essay compelling is antithesis. Antithesis is when two contrasting ideas are purposely juxtaposed to create balance and to accentuate the contrast. The first example of Elie Wiesel using antithesis is when he states, “Would this terrible act drive us apart, I asked myself, or draw us together as a nation?(Wiesel 2)” In this passage Elie states a question if the terrorist attacks will bring American citizens together or apart. The two contrasting ideas that Elie includes are apart and together. By using antithesis, Elie is able to show his audience that there are two ways that this attack can affect us. By using antithesis he states the two ways. This creates balance because it gives

He wished to know “Why do I live? Why do I breathe?” (Wiesel 4). When asked why he cried and was so intrigued, his only response was "I wept because-because of something inside me that felt the need for tears". (Wiesel 2) His faith was stronger than most Jews in the area, young and elderly. Yet as he moved from camp to camp after his detainment, he started to wonder what had happened to God, where he was, and how he is letting this all happen to innocent people. His story represents losing faith in any and every way, because, over the development of the book, there are clear examples of Elie losing faith in his father, his religion, and

Posed with Wiesenthal’s predicament on forgiveness, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the infinite amount of approaches to a response. Seemingly impossible, Levi, Locke, Tec, and Prager achieve that difficult task by narrowing down their arguments into conclusive essays. When placed side by side for comparison, the four pieces of writings may appear similar due to the closely-tied opinions and response. However, whether through the usage of personal rhetorical analysis or the exploration of forgiveness’s limits, the symposiums begin contrast as each one follows their own unique route in the search for an answer.