Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail

Segregation haunts the streets of Birmingham. Years go by, past efforts prove futile, and thousands fight, but nothing has changed. However, one man, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who sits in the restricted, desolated, confines of a Birmingham jail cell, approaches the longing battle of segregation unprecedentedly. Acts of violence, bargaining, and threatening have all shown a lack of success, so, Dr. Martin Luther King enacts the method of nonviolent direct action. During his circumstantial imprisonment, King becomes aware of a newspaper article in which eight white clergymen criticize his efforts in Birmingham as “untimely and unwise.” Unable to physically disprove them due to his detainment, he uses his most influential “weapon,” being his

Throughout the letter, King uses imagery to justify his efforts and disprove the claim that his efforts were “untimely” and “unwise.” King makes it impossible for his audience to go against his causes without disregarding their morals and altering their values. Martin Luther King understood that he was severely un-welcomed in Birmingham and needed to prove he was not associated with his predecessors, who brought violence and hostility with them. Because of this, he makes them acknowledge his true purpose by showing his perspective, unveiling his emotions, and illustrating what he and the people fighting with him have to experience daily. When King was responding to the advice of the clergymen, telling him to

King compels his audience to either compromise between their indifference and their patriotism for the nation or to conflict with the values and morals that they live by. He makes a straightforward connection to how ending segregation will be for the benefit of the country by indicating that if they do not solve the problems segregation brings as soon as possible, then the United States will eventually be caught and surpassed by countries that are supposedly far behind them. King also introduces the thought that the people accusing his actions of being untimely are not highly knowledgeable or fully aware of the severity of what they are fighting for. Through this, the audience easily comprehends that he is not just acting upon his personal goals, rather he is acting upon what he feels will be for the betterment of the nation. On top of this, the audience can also understand or infer that segregation may be worse than previously imagined. By doing this, he makes the readers anticipate what will come next and what he will say about segregation's impact later in the letter. King continues to use imagery in this way to support his purpose. After setting up his description, Martin Luther King capitalizes on the reader's anticipation by swiftly transitioning into a