A Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

While humans often attempt to act more evolved than their primate relatives it is often obvious that both species continued to evolve at the same rate, each one adapted to meet their specific situation, but both retained similar primitive behavior that often shined through their complex adaptations. Superiority is oftentimes one of these traits that shined through, adult males often develop superiority complexes similar to those prevalent within the animal communities. Some of these people create inhuman systems such as Jim Crow laws to prevent people they consider threats to their position from being able to challenge their ideologies and practices. King addresses these ideologies and practices in his A Letter From Birmingham Jail where he
King says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny”, (King Birmingham Jail). King’s incorporation of the metaphor “tied in a single garment of destiny” creates a depiction in the reader's mind of a interconnected community in which all human beings all over the globe are a part of, all linked together by our assured eventual demises. By integrating a metaphor into the piece King is able to create in image in the mind of the reader in order to help them sympathize with King and the message of the Civil Rights Movement. King later goes on to say, “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair”, (King Birmingham Jail). Here King goes on to use the metaphor “abyss of despair” to depict what one comes to after being faced with constant oppression and inhumane treatment. The overall effect of the metaphor helps to create a distinct image in the reader's mind of the oppression that people were facing