An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'

By 1963, when Martin Luther King planned a campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. During the demonstration he was arrested and lives in the jail for eight days. While he was in prison, he wrote his "letter from Birmingham Jail" to explain his actions and those who urged him to call off the demonstrations. Martin Luther King Jr. Birmingham Jail is important because, he explains the reasons for the non-violent demonstrations, he shows that black people are intelligent, and he criticizes the unjust laws of black people.

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King responds to the clergymen’s criticism on his non-violent actions being “unwise and untimely.” In his introduction, King uses front loading to provide a preview and background of what his letter will discuss. As he justifies why his actions were not “unwise or untimely” King addresses the bigger issue of the black community suffering injustices and the need to take action for justice. To convey his arguments King effectively uses quotations, allusions and pathos to support his argument and to refute what his opposition is saying.

As a well respected preacher and advocate for nonviolence, Dr. King focused on freedom signifying being seen as an equal, but he was patient and forgiving in achieving this, which ultimately hurt his cause as he continually faced the same challenges after seeing no results followed by no change in his course of action. The overall tone of his letter from the Birmingham Jail is apologetic as if he needs to explain his actions because their purpose is unclear and he is at fault. He relates and reasons with the clergymen whom he addressed his letter to, “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms”(p. 24). Within the first paragraph he has submitted to their

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

During the course of living human being are subjected to many controversial arguments and ethical stations. Education in concept of ethical reasoning and in the fundamentals of the principles are important for one to be skilled in ethical reasoning. Ethical reasoning is a very important element in human nature of living either professionally or individually. Ethical reasoning offers critics with the capability to represent viewpoints, ideas and make judgement. Moreover ethical reasoning enable critics’ to consciously give examination for them to reach a solution that does not harm anybody else. Ethical reasoning can be defined as arguing the wrong and the right of human behavior.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” In 1963, Martian Luther King Jr was protesting for blacks to have equal rights in Birmingham, Al. The city administration found out about these protests and ordered the police to arrest them. Now in jail was confronted by a court and ordered not to protest in Birmingham. In response King wrote what is now known as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. The letter is considered to be the most important documents of the civil rights movement as it explains Kings strategy of using nonviolent protests to make a point and spark a negotiation. Kings letter started the

I want to be treated just like everyone else. Both Virginia Wolff and Martin Luther King, Jr. touch on what the ultimate goal is for everyone to be treated the same. Virginia Wolff pointed out the position of a women in the Renaissance Era, they had none. The approach that Ms. Wolff took was to invent a scenario to famous person, William Shakespeare, sister and put her in this position of everyone else at that stage. A women couldn’t be smart; she couldn’t have a job. She had to run a house and make babies. If she didn’t like it, oh well, you have to live with it. That is just horrible condition. Women were not mentioned anywhere in history between 1400s to the 1600s. I can’t believe that, there weren’t any women overthrowing a kingdom behind her husband’s back or a woman being betrothed to a gentlemen that she has seen since being in a crib and they fall magically in love and live happily ever after, but that is what television perceives to everyone. According to history his was not true. Equality is men and women should be treated equally. If you don’t like your marriage, you can leave. If you want a better job, you better get paid the same amount. To this day, women are not getting paid the same wage as men for the same job. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the inequality of people and wrote about it in Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In his writing, not until paragraph fourteen does Dr. King mention anything about the color

Every immigrant man, woman, or child has a story to tell, whether they travel alone or together, they have a reason to travel and start a new beginning. If a immigrant travels to America from a foreign country, they aren't always treated equally or fairly. Martin Luther King Jr. writes in his essay, "Letter from Birmingham Jail", about various topics regarding equality. Even though King writes about African-Americans and equal rights in America, he's writing about every person who is not welcomed in their country. He would have helped anyone in any country who was treated unfairly, "Had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers"(King 227). Immigrants face the same issue that King had to deal with during his time. There are five main issues that prevent immigrants from being accepted; equality, justice, oppression, freedom, and the advantages and disadvantages to allowing immigration.

While I was reading Dr. King’s letter his main thesis to me was the fact that he was trying to protest peacefully and make amends with the clergyman. He was taken into jail where he had to explain himself writing this letter so that they will understand why he decided to take such actions. The worst part is that he was trying to make his point across to this man when he was doing nothing wrong just expressing his concerns as any other citizen, but not even a peaceful protest was allowed back then. Dr. King was trying to make society understand that black people are human too who have values and deserve to be treated like every other person.

Throughout history, there have been many significant documents and speeches that enlighten and inform us on what is and was happening during those times. Abraham Lincoln’s speech, The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail are two important pieces of history. In Lincoln’s speech he speaks about the dangers of slavery in the United States and warned everybody that people who disrespected American laws could destroy the United States. On the other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. defended the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, and argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws. Based on these facts, Martin Luther King Jr does not agree with Lincoln’s counsel.

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

:"Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a powerful piece of writing that graces the writings by Martin Luther. Part of the power lies in the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos, and pathos in the letter. Luther used these stylistic devices and literary approaches to express his message, intention and express the mood of the letter making a masterpiece like no other letters before.

Freedom is the basic human right which allows everyone to live independent and like a slave. Martin Luther king is one of the inspirational leader who always stood up for equal right and justice for himself and his community. He wrote a letter from Brigham jail to clergymen who were against his protest. King wanted clergymen to know his reason for sitting in Birmingham jail, that his action is matured and serving a good purpose behind it. With this in mind, king wrote a letter in which he stated that, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable term.

While in Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King wrote a letter in response to some fellow priests who felt that his actions were “unwise and untimely” (King). Throughout this letter his long road of struggle to racial freedom and the actions and words that are fueling the fight are outlined. In his letter, Martin Luther King claimed, “the goal of America is freedom”. Written into the Declaration of Independence is the idea that all men are created equal, but many feel robbed of their freedom. Movements such as Martin Luther King’s fight for civil rights and the recent Black Lives Matter campaign show us that America does not treat everyone freely. Martin Luther King and Black Lives Matter take different approaches towards the same

Oppression's deep-rooted ties in history stems from a long origin of discrimination. Discrimination is a war fought from the primitive time of civilization for the right to be treated as an equal to one's neighboring members of society, and to be considered just as valuable as the individual next to them. Through many attempts at ending oppression, or at least hindering its influence, many victories have been sustained as a light of hope for equality for all, in which many leaders of civil movements paraded and protested to ensure the rights of their followers. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the most famed activist and leader of the civil rights movement, died attempting to mend society in a world that lacking equity through peaceful civil disobedience. Through his well-known and exquisite work "Letter from Birmingham Jail," King calls for the by-standing members of society to project voice for the oppressed and take action against the oppressor.