Night and Speaking out

     “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim” (The Elie Wiesel Foundation). Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust and author, is saying that neutrality isn’t truly neutral. When an observer decides that an issue isn’t worth speaking out about, they are hurting the victim more than most people acknowledge. That person who is being injusticed in any way, was just robbed of a chance of being saved. Gun control legislation, if enacted, will destroy American rights and the ability to protect oneself. This is not an issue that can be enacted and then taken back like it was all a big mistake. Talking about the injustice and talking about stopping the disarming of regular innocent people is the only way to stop it. There is an advertisement well known among American Television watchers that is by a group called the ASPCA. Sarah McLachlan states within the ad, “For only 60 cents a day you can save animals from their abusers and provide medical care, food, shelter, and love” (ASPCA). This ad evokes a special response from many of those who watch the ad; they change the channel. Facebook pages are dedicated to how sad this ad makes them feel and how they change the channel to avoid it. Yet if so many people change the channel, there is a significant amount of donations lost because people feel like they can’t accept the truth.Gun control must not be treated the same way. As a controversial topic, it should not be avoided during conversations and ignored like an ad to save the animals. Because while the average American television watcher does not witness dog beatings daily, they will be affected by the increase in gun violence. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie finds himself lost in a world of deceit and lies, yet it takes a whole army to reveal what many germans and others under Nazi control knew (Night). The fear of being hurt stopped them from talking and saving millions. Gun control cannot be avoided, if people stop talking and protesting, the government and every criminal will have a power over the people that cannot be allowed.


                                          Works Cited

ASPCA. Advertisement. News 14. WXLV, Apex, North Carolina,

    23 May 2013. Television.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam, 1982. Print

Wiesel, Elie. "The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity." The Elie

     Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 201