Letter From Birmingham Jail Ethos Pathos Logos

Raeanna R. Essig
Prof. Craig Case
ENG 124.01
21 February 2017
Actions of Nonviolence
Throughout the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King makes numerous profound statements that transcend through the ages. King wrote this famous letter while imprisoned for being involved in various nonviolent campaigns. King, not harboring any fear of retribution for his bold statements, uses a simple letter address the sensitive issues of segregation and racism directly. King writes a highly adequate and powerful response to the circumstances prompting the letter, while also teaching lessons on the correct way to fight for equality. When Martin and his follower’s direct nonviolent methods are being questioned by the fellow clergy members,

Martin Luther, in a stroke of genius, compares his actions and fight to the apostle Paul’s:
Just as the eighth-century prophets left their little villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. (King 1)
This comparison of the apostle Paul to himself was meant to show credibility in his actions and words. He uses a pioneering religious leader to establish the importance of his work. This again is a direct reference to what his audience, the clergymen, know and value. Now that Luther has established authority with his audience of clergymen, he moves on to the rhetorical element of logos. Martin Luther king uses logos, or logic and reasoning, to prove his statements and defenses of nonviolent campaigning are true. One part of his famous letter discusses King logical refute to an argument about

But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity…when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" (King