Pathos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an impassioned, eloquent piece of argumentation against racial injustice; his letter being the distillation of a lifetime as well as centuries of oppression. Through a careful balance of logic versus brevity, King weaves a tapestry that illuminates not only the personal struggle of African Americans in the United States, but connect their struggle to mans’ struggle for decency in the face of injustice. King begins by flattering his “dear fellow Clergymen” (King, 502) while at the same time making it clear that he is imprisoned—with sarcasm King makes it clear that with his free time, he found their letter, and thought it fitting to address them accordingly. Appearing to pathos,

There is one profound use of Pathos that is striking not only in its brevity, is evocativeness, but in its length. What King said, in reference to the Clergymen’s letter regarding his actions as “untimely” forms the distillation of Kings’ anger towards those who could not comprehend the plight of the African American in those segregated times, particularly in the South. Within one paragraph King lays out (without a single period) the depth of emotion and injustice that he and all African Americans faced in the United States. For example, scenes like being unable to find a motel room for the night during a road trip because nobody “will not accept you,” so you would have “to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of [your] automobile” (King, 505). Another heart wrenching example being the young daughter who wanted to go to “Funtown” but was told amidst tears that they could not because it was “closed to colored children” (King, 505). Through words like you and moments that are beyond ordinary, King makes clear the various injustices throughout America, and that his actions were not “untimely” but long