Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, philanthropic, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He worked for racial equality and civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. This letter was published in King’s book “Why We Can’t Wait.” It was written in response to a public statement of concern issued by eight White clergymen of Alabama; who disagreed with his civil rights actions. King also quite deliberately wrote his letter for a national audience. The letter reveals King 's strength as an advocate and his extent of knowledge. It alludes to numerous secular thinkers, as well as to the Bible. Although, King successfully
The reader sees constant development of ideas introduced by the author which, reduces the impact of the overall stance. For instance, too much emphasis is put in determining the nature of just and unjust laws (4), (5). Along with the content of the paragraphs lacking consistency, the links between the paragraphs themselves seem unsystematic. This is shown in between the paragraphs referring to ‘White moderates devoted to order than to justice’ (6) and King being optimistic about help from the White moderates but only a few supported him in his cause(8). Though both serve as examples of White moderates not being supportive of about parity across United States, which inevitably resulted in disgust among the Negroes; King has not included that these are all examples of the same phenomenon. He has assumed the reader would draw the link themselves. The disunity among the paragraphs acts as a major flaw in the letter. The reader’s attention is lost as the evidences provided by King are either too wordy or it just takes the reader’s thoughtfulness away for the main purpose. For instance, the numerous examples used by King to describe the massive torture the African Americans had to face is also too prolix and unnecessary. The reader notices that King has employed extreme use of pathos which seems rather pointless
writes this influential letter is to signal a type of 'call to arms ' attitude for the country and his fellow clergymen. King, along with his followers was arrested in Birmingham for carrying out nonviolent processions which according to the White clergymen led to civil disobedience. King uses quotes from his critics to provide the background for what he has to say and he very neatly portrays his perspective by offering counter arguments backed up by various evidences to fortify his claim. Here the reader witnesses King’s struggle for equality and justice in Birmingham; hence fulfilling the central purpose, making the letter yet more effective. Furthermore, many quotes from the church displayed King’s way of defying the opposition’s stance. He repeatedly compared his movement to Biblical movements, and at some points even to Jesus ' crucifixion. Given a few examples of the many occurrences that happened in Birmingham in 1963 and after reading King’s thoughts on it, it is hard to understand why he did not choose to retaliate with the same violence and instead chose direct action. King himself was a humanitarian and he was inspired by Gandhi and his non- violent activism (King). Here the reader observes the author’s key motive behind carrying out non-violent movements because he was convinced that this form of confrontation is the most compelling defense available to the oppressed. Furthermore, in his letter, King explains to the clergymen