Your comment post should be at least 300 words this week due Thursday by 11:59 pm (worth 70 points) and you will be responsible for responding (respectfully) to one of your classmates in at least a one paragraph reply entries by Sunday at 11:59 pm (worth 30 points).
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Elie Wiesel
-What do you think this quote means? How can it be related to our society and everyday things people do?
- What does this quote mean to you? Give an example from your life, Film or Literature where you have seen this idea apply. Explain using specific examples.
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." To me this quote means that you have to take a side. When silence is given to someone for example if your being bullied and you don't act towards the bully or you don't talk to him he or she will eventually go away. Neutrality is for the oppressor not the victim it means that the person doing it doesn't care that he or she is doing it. I also feel that this quote means that taking a side is something everyone has to do in a situation but pick the right side don't pick the wrong side because everyone else is for example a lot of people chose not to help or try and fight back against Hitler because he had so much power. A lot of people chose his side or no side because they were scared that Hitler would have them killed or tormented. A lot of jews died because no one helped until 1945 when American and British forces found out about a lot of the stuff Hitler was doing. And when people kept silent about everything it hurt a lot of other people. That's what this quote means to me
ReplyDelete“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Those were a few words from Holocaust survivor and author, Elie Wiesel. My interpretation of this quote is that you need to take a stand, fight what you believe in. Never be the coward to the authority, show your courage! Be the bigger person when you are in the type of situation where someone is picking on you. Either you’re on the side where you can cower and never do or say anything to the person picking on you to stop them, or, you can be on the side where you don’t care what the person who is trying to pick on you thinks or says and they leave you alone. Now what stood out to me in this quote was the saying of neutrality. Neutrality is the side that everyone uses, because they don’t know what to say, they don’t know what to do. Neutrality is the safe haven for all decisions that are either too shy to decide or never wants to be decided. Here’s a scenario, at school, you, the victim, is getting bullied because someone didn’t like how you express yourself. They call you sleezy, garbage, someone who would never get noticed by another individual. Now, what would you do in that situation, would you agree to that person and change they way you are, because the said so, or are you going to be the person who wouldn’t care and say, “Thank you for that piece of advice, but I don’t need it.”? You decide. That is what I believe this quote means.
ReplyDeleteIn my life, this quote has played many roles. I see that some people pick on each other, and the victims are usually in shock and cry about how that person was saying bad things about you. Well, why should you care, first of all. They don’t know you they way you know yourself, do they? NO!!! Who in the whole wide world cares what they have to say to you? Most things that people say to you are false and you shouldn't fall into their plot. So to conclude, decide on what side you want to be on.
vinny you did a great job answering this quote, I think you expanded my meaning along this quote and made me think more into it. I really agree with what you said when you said "Be the bigger person when you are in the type of situation where someone is picking on you. Either you’re on the side where you can cower and never do or say anything to the person picking on you to stop them, or, you can be on the side where you don’t care what the person who is trying to pick on you thinks or says and they leave you alone. " it makes perfect sense to me. also you gave great examples!
DeleteVinny I totally agree with you people should always be the bigger peerson in a situation. you explained the qoute great and when someone is picking on someone else they should stick up for the person being picked on good job.
Delete"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." This quote by the holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel I think has more than one meaning and is very powerful words, when I hear this many things flash throughout my mind. For one example, I think that if you let someone walk all over you, bully you, you should stand up for yourself or just simply ignore them. Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt. If you just ignore it they will eventually stop, show them that it doesn’t bother you. They will realize that you don’t simply care what they think or what they say affects you. Also, if you see someone getting bullied you should stand up for them too. Show them that they aren’t alone, because now it’s two against one and they are the weaker one now. Be brave, be bold! Do it for yourself and others! Don’t let anyone every push you around when it could defiantly be stopped. This quote can relate to everyone, and in everyone’s life. For an example for the kids that do get bullied on a daily basis and don’t stand up for themselves, just deals with it and stays miserable day after day. That is what this quote I think means in my own words and how it can be related to society. The quote "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”, means a lot to my life personally. For an example I will never let people walk all over me and be mean to me. Or even anyone else, if I see someone being rude or unfriendly to someone else I will help that person out and make sure that it didn’t continue to happen.
ReplyDeleteMartha, I totally agree on your explanation of this quote. You should never let the oppressor get the upper hand. Stand up for yourself, never give them the benefit! In my opinion, I believed you did a great job of explaining this quote.
DeleteI have the same opinion on what the quote means to you. I also agree its important to show someone who is bullied they aren't alone and stand up for them. It's important to show other people it okay to stand up for ourselves. Good Job!
DeleteWhen Eli says “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” i think he means more than one thing. When he says Neutrality helps the oppressor never the victim he means sometimes its hard to pick sides, but by taking a stand can really make a difference. By being neutral and not saying anything, the tormentor won’t stop. By staying silent, you’re just as bad as the tormentor. Although taking the side of the tormentor is easier, its not right. Most of the time when we want to speak up, we are afraid, confused, or unsure what to do. Its overwhelming and if you step up, because you don’t want to be the only one. But sometimes if just one person starts to discourage bullying, more people will be likely to step behind. Its easier to be in the group than to be the outcast.
ReplyDeleteSituations like this happen in school every day. Bullying happens everyday. There’s the bully, the bullied and the bystander. The oppressor is the bully, the bullied is the victim, and the silence/neutrality are the bystanders. At school, I saw a kid my age making fun of a younger kid for his appearance. There were people crowded around who didn’t do anything. Some would laugh and some would shake their heads because they knew it was wrong, but they didn’t want to do anything about it. The oppressor never stopped until someone got a teacher and made him break it up. There’s a difference between being a snitch and being a good person. If you know someone is going to get hurt, it’s important to act on your choice in the right way. I don’t think bullying should be acceptable anywhere and at any age. Silence doesn’t help anyone except the bully and by stay quiet you might as well be a bully.
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." I think that this quote means that you can't blame someone for doing something if you did it. So like if you torment someone then you can't say that person is tormenting you. This relates to real society and everyday things people do because people are getting in trouble all the time for things that the person did or a person did. So if someone went to jail for robbing someone and if that person that robbed someone put the thing in someone elses bag and they got in trouble that would be like this. I can learn from this by never blaming my actions on someone else and to just tell the truth and take responsibility for my actions and deeds.
ReplyDeletean example from my life could be one time when i was in elementary school some kid brought in something that shouldn't be in school and he gave it to me. when other people found out someone told the principal and we got in trouble. But because i told him to bring it in i tried to play it off like i never asked him for it. I didn't even get in trouble and the kid got suspended. Even though we were friends i was happy that i didn't even get in trouble but now that were in high school we are friends again and we hang out all the time.
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Elie Wiesel. Too me this quote means that in life you need too be certain about all things and especially when in bad situations you need to think quick and realize what the right thing to do is. For example, if you see someone being bullied you shouldn't just sit back and wait to see if someone else says something. As human beings I certainly believe that we should all be there for each other but unfortunately it is the other way around. You shouldn't be neutral about how you feel in bad or good situations because that only makes things confusing. I think a time in my life that i was stuck in a situation that related to this quote would definitely be when i was a kid. As a kid my parents would always be arguing and because i loved them both so much i always was quiet about how I really felt & because of that my parents always argued over us when they divorced. I'm sure that if i told my parents who i truly liked being with more there would be less confusion. I think you should always say what is on your mind and be honest about how you feel because mixed emotions and connections with other people could lead to bigger problems. It's much easier to stand up for yourself and others and get your point across.
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