Henry David Thoreau: Great Influence to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I strongly believe that just as Henry David Thoreau was greatly influenced by the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, (who introduced Thoreau to the ideas of transcendentalism) Martin Luther King, Jr.'s thinking was greatly influenced by that of Thoreau's. He was most probably influenced more by India's Mahatma Gandhi; however, Gandhi's principles were mainly based on those of Thoreau. Though Thoreau lived more than 100 years before the time of King, his thinking remained an influential legacy. They each wrote based on contemporary events that had been going on in their particular time, pursuing the same type of objective: equality and justice among mankind. Another similarity between these two influential writers is the fact that they had been incarcerated, for different reasons, however the circumstances they were trying to defeat were very much alike.

During his incarceration at Birmingham jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter to his clergymen expressing his feelings and justifying the protests of his fellow black citizens. "A letter from Birmingham Jail" was written in response to a letter that had recently been published in a local newspaper, which had claimed that the protests were "unwise and untimely"(181). I strongly believe that King wrote this letter to address the public in general. Similar to Thoreau's writings, the letter shows King's rhetorical style and his broad intellect. One of the differences between these two influential writers is that King refers to the bible and to several well-known philosophers to back-up his point of view. I think that his intentions in writing this letter were mostly geared toward seeking sympathy upon his readers. He sought sympathy and understanding from the clergymen as well...

... middle of paper ...

...inds it useless. He feels that the government is betraying society by not applying equality among its people and emphasizes his view on the worthlessness of voting.

King uses the same type of approach in his letter by describing the hostility that had been experienced at the time by the African-American citizens as result of a segregated, prejudice- filled society. His philosophy was geared toward the individual's conscience and non-violent means of overcoming the crisis they had been living. Like Thoreau, King was determined to use his intellect as a persuasive orator to reach out to society and make a difference. I believe that any sane individual would agree with Thoreau about the evils of slavery, therefore, we are likely to agree with King on the evils of racial prejudism and the benefits that will come forth from practicing protests against such evils.