Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the Christian church of Birmingham on April 16, 1963, in which he tries to defend his innocence when charged with what the church calls ‘inappropriate’ actions. In his letter to the church, King Jr. uses allusion in order to convince his audience and to prove his innocence about his actions following his arrest. In his letter, King alludes to historical and biblical figures, the United States Constitution, and Civil Rights activist such as Langston Hughes. To begin with, MLK Jr. knows that if he wants to convince the clergymen that they have made a mistake; he must prove to them that he is no different than them. He’s a family man, he goes to church and overall he’s the average American citizen. To …show more content…
In his letter, King Jr. responds by alluding to biblical figures such as Paul, Martin Luther and Jesus Christ while also using historical figures like President Jefferson and President Lincoln, “Was not Jesus and extremist for love…was not Amos an extremist for justice…was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel…” (16) King understands that by using figures such as Paul and Jesus Christ, the clergymen of the church will see King Jr. as a man who values religion like them. In the same manner, when he’s not alluding to biblical/historical figures such as Paul or Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. alludes to the United States Constitution in order to prove to the clergymen that he is full of patriotism just like any average American citizen, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” (7) he uses the constitution as a way to convince the clergymen of their wrongdoing by putting King in jail. They are somehow going against the constitution by denying justice for everyone. He is somehow shaming the clergymen for claiming to be patriotic and wanting to protect the rights of every American, yet they choose to ignore the black community. Eventually, just like Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes was an activist who fought for equal rights for blacks and whites. In his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. alludes to Langston Hughes when trying to make the clergymen feel