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Rhetorical Devices In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In King’s essay, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King brilliantly employs the use of several strategies that are pivotal in successfully influencing critics of his philosophical views on civil disobedience. In the letter, King expresses his extreme disappointment over the criticism of his leadership by Alabama clergymen, his understanding of why oppressed people must resist their oppression, and his deep faith in the fundamental decency of all Americans. King implements idea from philosophers, such as Socrates, to make his dissertation.
King begins with differentiating between just and unjust laws. He states that a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral code, while an unjust law is out of harmony with the moral code. He states …show more content…

Plato philosophies were tailored from the mentorship from Socrates where he was one of the esteemed student reflecting Socrates ideologies. Both King and Plato drove at demolition and revealing the social injustices as viewed from King’s letter while held custody in Birmingham. Dr. King wrote this letter to counter the critic ideologies that nullified his nonviolent movements in this region by the clergymen. Besides, in Plato’s Crito, he detests Socrates fleeing away from his term thus to save his skin which has been replicated in King’s letter and actions. Both are enthusiastic about ending injustices.
Descartes believed in ethics and especially moral standards that uphold the free will of others. King dislikes the mandated racist laws only adjusted by the oppressors. Both philosophers respect equality that enhances the self in humans through which King argues that the blacks should be allowed to say what they truly believe. King detests the unjust man-made laws that infringe on God’s free given rights that Descartes presents on his metaphysics abstract …show more content…

This is showcased in King’s Letter where he abhors the current critics of racist laws that appears different in practice. For example, Mill argues that people should live in an enhanced environment that supports free will, which leads to free thinking. Besides, King instills hope on the people to abolish unfavorable laws that deter personal growth resulting to a state oblivion that brings about minority groups. Therefore, King’s letter incorporates Mill’s approaches through which both philosophers value liberty that begin from the free

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863 Words | 4 Pages

King also points out the morality of such laws. He points out that they have waited for over 340 years for constitutional and God given rights. He continues giving his audience an insight when he mentions how countries like Africa and Asia are moving with “jet like speed toward political independence, but we still creep at horse-and buggy pace toward getting a cup of coffee at a lunch counter”(King, 1963, p.3, para.1). He continues to argue about unjust laws. Pointing out that laws were made for that exact justice.

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King also explains his point on disobeying unmoral and unjust laws by referring to biblical figures Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who didn’t follow the laws of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar’s laws were unmoral and unjust, whoever didn’t follow them were thrown to the lions or were executed (King, para. 18). This evidence is a strength of King’s argument because it relates to what King and African Americans go through facing unjust laws, but they don’t face harsh

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King is personally more compelling, including the way he addresses his opposers and his objective and rationale that require civil disobedience. King’s reason for his fight was for the equal rights of all wronged by the unmerited laws that were in place during the time in the United States. At the end of his letter he said, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” (Paragraph 39) showing his goal for the future and what he was striving for. Throughout his letter he never tries to be condescending towards the clergymen, to whom he is addressing this letter, instead laying the facts out in the letter as unprejudiced as possible, because he knows the clergymen and those against his cause will be trying to find things that are untrue.

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Dr. King brings up the anxiety that willingness to break laws can cause. He decides next to answer the question, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” He feels that, “there are just laws, and there are unjust laws” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 2). Dr. King explains first that, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 2). He next explains that, “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 3).

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Having served as a minister, King deeply understood Christianity, which he used to address the white clergy in his open letter. King aimed to highlight the immorality of discrimination, especially to those in powerful or religious positions who could bring about change. Further, these individuals should be aware of the unjust and unchristian nature of allowing such bigotries. It did not matter to King whether others ignored or condoned the situation. Social change was necessary to eradicate racial injustices, and King’s mission was to convey that change.

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When using these examples and comparing it to the usage of the words legal and illegal during the rise of the civil rights movement, he is able to validify and persuade the readers to see the true meaning and usage of these words. As King defines the meaning of an unjust law to be, “any law that degrades human personality… all segregation statutes… because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality,” (King 3) it legitimizes the argument of how the laws that lead to segregation cannot be deemed a law due to the fact that they push

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740 Words | 3 Pages

While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.

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He gives an example of injustice through blaming the victim when society abuses Jesus and Socrates, who improve the world spiritually and intellectually. Questioning a spiritual figure and scholarly leader causes the audience to question the legitimacy of the white moderates’ logic because they doubt the audience’s beliefs. King cannot control how others react to his protests, but he can continue to try and improve the world through his own methods. Some white moderates find King to be an extremist and consider his protests unnecessary. King compels his religious audience by mentioning the different kind of extremes and how people choose their paths.

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The repetitive writing style in King’s letter is full of emotion and functions as a plea for understanding. His parallelism implores the reader to engage in an intellectual discernment of their own personal struggles with equality while verbalizing the continual struggle of right versus wrong, white versus black, and just versus

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580 Words | 3 Pages

“Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (15). This quote is King’s explanation for why he is breaking laws, which is because they are simply inhumane and he believes that the right thing to do is fight against them. This trait is ultimately shown through how he pursues his path to equality, which is through nonviolent

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King references organized religion throughout his letter and considering that the letter was mainly directed towards the clergymen, religion proves to be a continuous theme throughout the letter and may be the cause for one of the strongest arguments in the letter. Part of this argument is seen when King proposes a question on what makes a law just or unjust. King references St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest medieval Christian philosophers and one of the greatest church authorities, when he states, “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (382).

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251 Words | 2 Pages

We live in a world with currently many conflicts from the racial disparity in high incarceration rates to gun violence and the war over gun rights. In his letter, King describes that Black Americans have no identity and that the oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever. King implies that they cannot be told to “wait for justice” because if they simply

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959 Words | 4 Pages

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

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He writes this letter to defend his organization and peaceful protesting, yet also identifies the racial injustices he, and many other citizens received. King’s writing was very effective in accomplishing his goal to get his point across that segregation is a very serious thing. King hopes that his powerful and emotional message in his letter will impact how the clergymen, the whites, and many others approach and take action towards segregation. He hopes that they will see how terrible inequality truly is and make the American Society have less hate and more

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709 Words | 3 Pages

In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.

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