Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Mumley1
Tayler Mumley
Professor Marx
WSC 01
6 November 2014
Letter From Birmingham Jail
Most people know of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from his famous “ I have a dream” speech, but what about his letter from Birmingham jail? In the city of Birmingham, many civil rights activists organized sit ins, marches, and protests against racism. These nonviolent demonstrations were coordinated by Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King was the president of. Therefore, as an active participant and leader of these nonviolent validations, MLK Jr. was harshly imprisoned in the Birmingham jail. From this jail, he hand wrote a letter as a response to a newspaper article written by eight white clergymen
The first way he achieves this is by invoking sympathy to make the readers feel what he himself is feeling, for example, “While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, …” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 263). This is the very first line of the letter and is used to set the tone for the audience. MLK Jr. is hoping to gain compassion by using a torturous word like “confined” to address the unpleasant entrapment in the jail. Another line from King’s letter that shows pathos states, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim… then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr 266) This quotation comes from a long paragraph devoted to giving detailed descriptions about the harsh lives of African-Americans throughout the past 300 years. In this example as well as many others from the paragraph, King explains the emotional pain of racial prejudice and violence. Through reading this, the reader can actually feel the intensity and, as King hopes, are saddened by the horrific torture African Americans face. However, sadness and sympathy are not the only emotions Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. targets. In the following quotation, King uses the emotion of fear: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one
He makes a point that Birmingham is probably the most segregated city in the United States. He backs this statement up by saying “…Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case” (Martin Luther King Jr. 265) In another paragraph, King explains how to determine whether a law is just or unjust. He goes on and provides detailed definitions for both just and unjust. At the end of the paragraph he sums up by saying, “Hence segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr). This uses logic in a more emotional way to really hit the readers and make them think.
Ethos, pathos and logos could be considered an arguments best friend. King allowed his reader to gain an insight into his views and opinions through this letter. He based his letter on ethos, pathos and logos to convey and explain his views. The civil rights movement was significant in his letter as he was trying to persuade and educate the clergymen about the injustice and harm done to African American. He provided an authoritative, emotional and logical based argument to explain his actions and