Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr

Nonviolent resistance is one strategy that can be used in any movement or retaliation. In the 1960s, one man, named Martin Luther King, Jr. very much supported that idea. In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King writes back to the eight clergymen as a response to their criticism towards his nonviolent movement and actions. Throughout his letter, King discusses how necessary his movement is, especially by using credibility, emotion, reasoning and various figurative language, and the effectiveness it can have towards social reform. Although all that content contained in the essay proved to be valuable to his argument, King’s three concluding paragraphs appeared to be more effectual because of how he ends the letter with a satirical

He claims that “never before [has he] written so long a letter” and expresses a mocking tone when he further says “I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time” (para. 48). His tone implies that he is allowing the clergymen to seem superior to him, perhaps to keep a confusing concept of what he wants. Moreover, he assures the clergymen “it would have been much shorter” if in a “comfortable desk” rather than a “narrow jail cell” (para. 48). This statement is almost an “if, then” situation. If they wouldn’t have thrown him in a condensed jail cell, then he wouldn’t have had to write a lengthy letter but instead a shorter one. He continues to let them know that he has nothing else to do “other than write long letters, [and] think long thoughts and pray long prayers” (para. 48). Thus demonstrating that with the significant amount of time he has, he is carrying out motions in long processes. In other words, King wrote such a long letter to communicate how much time he had to think of ways to respond to criticism of his movement and still proceed to pursue the movement from behind

He first addresses the clergymen and asks them to for forgiveness if his letter “overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience” (para. 49). This possibly indicates an aim to reason with the men and show that he understands how they may feel. Then, he addresses God, in opposition, and asks for forgiveness if his letter “understates the truth and indicates [him] having patience” with settling for less than the peace and unity he is asking for (para. 49). In fact, exhibiting how, like the clergymen, he is a fellow Christian who still speaks to God as well. By contrasting “I beg you to forgive me” and “I beg God to forgive me,” King is subtly conveying that the clergymen are not of that importance (para.49). Silently being said is that the judgement they are throwing is the right of God and not the clergymen, or anybody. Clearly, King is capable of seeing both sides but does not want to settle for less than what his movement deserves. Compared to God, the clergymen do not matter and King could care less about their approval but would rather have the approval and support of