Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

After stating the general purpose of his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. specifically addressed the clergymen to set up for his logical counterargument. He wrote, "You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement... fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations." Martin Luther King Jr. first lays a foundation for his counterargument by addressing a flaw in his opponent's argument. This direct statement then takes a turn as he slowly develops the notion that the demonstrations were inevitable and necessary. His powerful words, "...it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative." By utilizing the key phrases "even more unfortunate" and "no alternative", King is able to emphasize that there was absolutely nothing else the Negro population in Birmingham could do. After devising this compelling statement, King then proceeds into his logical argument concerning the essential steps of any nonviolent campaign. King's analysis of the reasons and underlying conflicts that are fueling the unrest among blacks and whites in Birmingham utilizes logos. He explains the existence of an injustice, which is the intense segregation present in Birmingham. In fact, he uses extremes such as "Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States," to strengthen his point of view. By using logical argument that is structured and sequential, King appeals to an educated person's thoughts and logic.

Another instance when Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes the tactic of directly addressing his audience to present his rebuttal is evident in the part of his letter beginning, "You may well ask: 'Why direct action? ... isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling, for negotiation." In this example, he also uses appeal to logic as the main backbone of his argument but occasionally intertwines pathos and clever word choice along with the logos. As with the previous example, Martin Luther King Jr. first identifies a portion of his opponent's argument and slowly picks it apart. He accomplishes this by focusing on the word "tension." Through a comparison of violent tension, which is undesired, and nonviolent tension, which is constructive, he gradually establishes the concept that the "constructive, nonviolent tension" will "help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." King uses exceptional word choice, such as "dark depths" and "majestic heights," to accurately present his point of view. He then follows it up with "Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue." His statement not only uses logical reasoning to identify the necessity for negotiation, but also utilizes pathos to generate feelings of sympathy and remorse. The "tragic effort" expresses how emotionally intense the past years have been for Negros and their inability to have a say in the "monologue." The logical appeal is also present because he explicitly states the purpose of their direct-action program, which is to force an open door negotiation with both sides having power. Thus, he is attempting to create the "dialogue" through use of logos but also incorporates word choice and pathos.

While he used a mixture of logos and pathos to explain why a negotiation was necessary, Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes a mixture of ethos and logos to follow his direct statement towards his audience concerning the obedience of laws, or lack thereof. He initially identifies the clergymen's claim, "You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws." This then leads into a discussion about morals and the types of laws: "just and unjust." By logically breaking down the types of laws and using reason to portray situations when laws can and should be broken, King is essentially guiding the audience through his rationalization. This leads into a quote by St. Augustine, "an unjust law is no law at all." His strict moral adherence convinces the reader that he is trustworthy and honest. His morality helps establish ethos because it makes him a more reliable leader with integrity. This allows him to lead into his more logical counter argument as he links segregation to unjust laws. By creating a connection between unjust laws and segregation, he presents his perspective in such a way that it is almost undeniable and hard to oppose. It allows him to lead into his statement that "segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful." His use of logical appeal to present his counter argument after specifically addressing the clergymen is extremely effective, especially coupled with ethical appeal.

Through the use of specific rhetorical strategies such as logos, pathos, and ethos, Martin Luther King Jr. effective refuted the clergymen's argument. His success was also due to his unique strategy of directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, to create the basis of his argument. From there, King is able to slowly pick apart and shatter his opponent's claims. This effective method allowed King to present his rebuttal with more authority and conviction and thus achieve his goal: justify the reasons for nonviolent demonstrations against segregation.

Works Cited
Ali-Dinar, Ali B., ed. "Letter From a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." African Studies Center. University of Pennsylvania. 8 Sept. 2007 .