Martin Luther King Jr's ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’
Letter from Birmingham Jail was an open letter that was written by Martin Luther King Jr back in 1963 after being arrested and incarcerated in Birmingham prison. The theme of the letter was to address the issue of racial segregation and defending nonviolent resistance that was performed by African-Americans in the 20th century. As a result, the letter asserted that it was the moral responsibility of the people of color to take action of breaking unjust laws instead of sitting back and wait for the justice to come to them. This was after martin Luther heard that heard that people who were opposing his activities claimed that his activities were “unwise and untimely” (Luther, np). Thus, he wanted to prove that his activities were meant to encourage his people to take actions towards injustice. In the rhetorical analysis of this Martin Luther’s letter from Birmingham jail, this paper will assess his use of pathos, ethos and logos towards conveying the theme of injustice that dominated the American society in the days.
Ethos
Citing from the fact that ethos relates to defending one’s reputation, it is factual that one of the major themes of Luther’s letter is based on defending himself from false representation. At the prologue of his letter, Luther King asserts that he came across statements that called his activities imprudent and inconvenient (Luther, np). Therefore, in the defense for these accusations, Luther King starts by stating that one of the reasons that he was incarcerated is because of the injustice that ruled United States. He meant that the reason why he was in jail was not because of his culpability but rather because of the inherent injustice (Luther, np). Thus, it is evident that he tried to defend his reputation as he was misrepresented to his people and the general American society. To support his contentions, Luther King argued that statements that were made against him failed to express the reason he was demonstrating and focused basically on the act of protesting (Luther, np). It was perceptible that those who opposed Martin Luther concealed the issue of injustice and racism that resulted to segregation and violation of rights of African-American. Generally, Martin Luther King Jr in his letter cites from the cases of injustice and violation of the rights of African-Americans in order to defend his reputation from false statements that were made against him and his activities.
Pathos
To start with, pathos delineates the appeal of emotion created by the author in order to convey the mood of the theme and content to the audience. In expressing the extent of injustice in United States, Luther King Jr uses examples of uncountable cases where Black Americans had been treated unfairly. Citing from the nature of Birmingham city, he asserted that the area was known for the extreme brutality that the Blacks were subjected to (Luther, np). He also used cases such as unfair judgment of cases in courts, Black-American massacres, and segregation from the American society. Additionally, he narrated how their nonviolent demonstrations were in vain after the claims that there were threatening national securities. Some African-Americans lost their lives in nonviolent demonstrations after soldiers were ordered to disperse them with the claims that their created tension in the society (Luther, np). It appeared that their yarning for freedom was rewarded with injustice and violence every time they expressed their concern. Generally, pathos in the letter are exhibited through cases of injustice and violation of Afro-Americans’ rights.
Logos
Precisely, logos define the logical facts raised by the author which derive the deductive and inductive reasoning for the audience. Therefore, in the support of the unwillingness of the Black-Americans in the support of unjust laws of the whites, Luther King draws some examples from the Bible such as the way Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar on the claims that they were immoral and unreligious (Luther, np). Additionally, he used facts such as how early Christians were ready to be eaten by hungry lions rather than submitting to the Roman unjust laws. Martin Luther used these examples to prove that it was not immoral for them to demonstrate against unjust laws. These examples drew a conclusion that if early believers of faith defied unjust laws, it is factual that it was moral for them to protest against the injustice.
Conclusion
Generally, citing from the fact that Martin Luther King Jr wrote the letter to defend his reputation against false statements and prove the injustice of the laws, he used ethos, pathos and logos to convey the theme. Precisely, he used ethos to defend his reputation using facts and examples to prove that the society was dominated by injustice and the same injustice was the reason why he was incarcerated. Lastly, he used pathos to derive the mood and emotions when the Blacks are treated unfairly by the whites. Luther King’s arguments were made logical by facts and examples he raised to support the reason they were demonstrating against injustice in the society.
Work Cited
Luther, M.K. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. Mass Resistance. 16th April 1963. Retrieved from http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/09a/mlk_day/birmingham_jail.html
