Summary-Analysis Essay In Martin Luther King’s “Letter to Birmingham Jail”, he argues several themes that show the reader how society negatively acted towards inequality in race. King expresses his actions and thoughts throughout the letter. King uses violence versus nonviolence, white church vs black church, and injustice versus justice as themes to show us how he tried and how we can help end inequality. King takes on his actions not wanting what he does to be involved with violence. King describes four steps in a nonviolent campaign: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.” I agree with the four steps that King describes. One needs to have proof. One needs to be Then he goes on to say that they wouldn’t have praised them so much if the white people had known that the police would let their dogs bite into black people that weren’t causing any violence. Also, they wouldn’t have praised so greatly if the white people had known that the police were treating the black people as if they were violent attacking animals when they were a human being just the same as any other white person. They wouldn’t have praised the police if they had known the way they would treat the black women and the young black girls. Finally, the white community wouldn’t have praised the police if they knew that the police refused to give the black people food because they were singing together. I admire King for writing all these horrible actions by the Birmingham Police because people outside the jail need to know how repulsive, sickening the police were to the black people for doing absolutely nothing to them. The black people were fighting for equality and for the future of If everyone could see that King is right, as I do, then the white community needs to reevaluate the popular assumption that colored people aren’t equal. King’s reaction is that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. People don’t only have a legitimate reason but also a honorable responsibility to perform just law, King thinks. King also states his agreement with St. Augustine on that “an unjust law is no law at all”. When King describes the difference between a just law being “manmade code that squares with moral law or the law of God” and unjust being “a code that is out of harmony with the moral law”. I interrupted King’s comparison on just and unjust by just being what God says in the bible and unjust being the sins of your actions. King gives another example of just and unjust: “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” “a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself”. When King explains it this way I don’t see it being God’s word versus sin. I see that King is saying if enough people agree than it is just and if there are a majority people that disagree then it is seen as
King makes good use of Aristotle's three argumentative appeals. Though, he does not use strong facts in his logical appeals. This is reasonable, as he was in jail. He did not have any way to get evidence, which would be necessary to provide proof. Nonetheless, this would have made King a much more reliable source. King's letter is mostly an ethical piece. And it has to be, because the letter is a reply to criticisms pointed to King. For whatever reasons, the cultural effects of the letter are great. King used the letter to explain what his logic, reasons, and purposes were.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proves that he is well knowledgeable in the happenings in Birmingham. By providing a surplus of examples of events and details which he finds alarming, King was able to persuade the clergymen to like at the way the Negro community is being treated in the south using the appeal to logos, pathos and ethos. He displays his willingness to continue with respect and dignity, but because of the emotional ties that he has towards this cause, he will not remain inactive.
King's allusions cause the reader to want to take action against injustice, whereas Thoreau's are darker -- more likely to make the reader want to submit to and accept the injustices portrayed. For example, King, in his first biblical allusion, manages to draw glory into his struggle by comparing himself with the Apostle Paul, feeling "compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town," just as Paul "left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city in the Graeco-Roman world. . " This stirs admiration in the reader for King and adds relevance to his struggle. Later King discusses the history of his style of civil disobedience by relating the tale of "Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks, before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire."... ...
The letter provoked King and “the Letter from Birmingham jail” was a written response to the white clergy men and to defend the strategy of non-violent protesting. Throughout the letter, King used many stylistic writing elements and effective emotional appeal to make people want to join his case. His emotional appeal begins when he stated: “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” And his emotional appeal continues and gets more effective when he describes the suffering life of black people who are suffering from racism and injustice:” when you take a country-cross drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the corner of an automobile because no hotel would accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out, you are by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’”. This makes people want to join his case and makes his followers more determined about protesting against racial injustice.
He stated that” privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily”. He illustrated that Negroes realize from their bad experience that they need to confront the society by non-violence tension to persuade whites with their rights otherwise, white people can’t perceive what segregation means. In addition, King supported his claim that delayed justice is never attained. King defended his claim of breaking the laws as there are just laws and in–just laws. He explained that the law, which degrades human personality isn’t a law. He mentioned that” all the segregation status are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damage the personality”. King asserted that there is no democratic law when it doesn’t concern with a part of the society. King provided historical support for the in-just law. He referred to what Hitler did with the Jewish community in Germany was a law. However, no one nowadays is doubtful that Hitler’s law was in-just because he persecuted and killed Jews and prevented any one to assist and comfort them. Consequently, he implied that white clergymen should think about what they did with Negroes and help them as their brothers against
In paragraph 11, King declares, “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed,” but he feels that negroes tend to “wait” for change to happen. He then juxtaposes how Asia and Africa are eager to gain political independence and we linger around wanting change, but we will not take direct action. King uses biblical allusion in paragraph 17 when he analogizes civil disobedience to the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey laws of higher morality. Biblical allusion is demonstrated in paragraph 20 when he compares the statement of his peaceful actions precipitating violence and should be condemned to Jesus being condemned because his never-ceasing devotion to his will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion. King challenges the use of unjust laws in paragraph 18 by commenting on how Hitler’s actions in Germany were considered legal which exemplifies historical allusion. Although there were different types of allusions administered, I felt that King magnified biblical allusion more because he, indeed, is a preacher and his audience was a group of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail brings up the idea of acting in a just or unjust manner. In this letter, he’s saying that it’s moral for one to break a law if they feel it is an unjust one. He stated that any law that’s degrading a person should be considered unjust. Even though the technical reason for his arrest was just, since he was parading without a permit, it was an unjust action because it was used to maintain segregation in Birmingham. Since the reasoning for his actual arrest was unjust, he said that it’s okay to take action against it. What matters, however, is that it is done in a loving and direct way. This could be related to Socrates, who was arrested on the grounds for impiety and supposedly corrupting the youth of Athens. However, he made the argument that he was simply exposing them to what he believed was the truth, which was causing no harm other than giving them knowledge they deserved. Socrates
King’s letter was influenced by “Apology”, The Bible, and The Tanakh, some of the most important pieces of philosophical literature in history. Socrates in “Apology” is known to be one of the founders of Western philosophy because he was successful in challenging and persuading his audience. And it is because of Socrates, the art of philosophy is so successful today. King used this source to justify disobedience and defend his reason for his actions as an advocate of desegregation. The Bible and The Tanakh were used as Christian references to justify the moral justification of his actions.
In King's Letter, he clearly states his views and beliefs to not only stand up for himself, but also to stand up for equality and justice for all. His actions also show his commitment to his belief. King later goes on to tell how he was going to achieve his goal. He states that he will be doing it in a non-violent manner which was influenced by Mahatma Ghandi. He also says that this will be done in a well-thought-out, civilized manner. Next, he begins to show them some of the actions that the police force took, such as letting dogs loose on the people and their harsh treatment of the people. Dr. King states that he saw the dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. They refused the give them food because they wanted to sing
Overall, King sympathizes with the exception of the white people and the Negroes who agree to disobey the unjust laws. “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience
King writes the letter to defend his organization's actions and the letter is also an appeal to the people, both the white and black American society, the social, political, and religious community, and the whole of American society to encourage desegregation and encourage solidarity and equality among all Americans, with no stratifications according to racial differences. King's letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the American society, particularly the political and religious community of the American society.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned in the Birmingham Jail for being involved in nonviolent protests against segregation. The letter is directed at eight white clergymen from Alabama who were very cynical and critical towards African Americans in one of their statements. Throughout the letter, King maintains an understanding yet persistent tone by arguing the points of the clergymen and providing answers to any counterarguments they may have. In the letter, King outlines the goals of his movement and says that he will fight racial inequality wherever it may be. Dr. King uses the appeal three main rhetorical devices – ethos, logos, and pathos – in order to firmly, yet politely, argue the clergymen on the injustices spoken of in their statement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
The injustice of segregation laws is leading to a violent impact throughout the African American community, as they strive to have equal rights. In the essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. describes many struggles the African American community is going through. Dr. King effectively uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust and must end.