Summary Of Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

During the 1950s and 1960s, violence and protests wreaked havoc in cities, because at this time, segregation was the main focus for a divided America. Advocating for himself and followers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes appealing arguments in response to a public statement sent to him by eight Alabama clergymen. In a letter from Dr. Martin King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader, King uses emotional appeals to defend the nonviolent resistance effort. To enumerate, when King addressed the clergymen, he used “my dear fellow clergymen,” rather than addressing them formally, which would allow a separation of conversing individuals. The significance of this statement is meant to invoke a sense of common ground between the clergymen and himself in order to establish a sense of unity. The effect of this specific appeal is that King grasped the attention of people with conflicting viewpoints

from his own, in a way that engaged every party in the conversation and brought them together as a unit. Correspondingly, King states that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” What King is saying, in other words, is that no matter who likes it or not, all humans are coexisting in the same world, and therefore, are all tied in some way or another, and this fact simply can’t be changed. The implication of this statement is that no one, no matter how violent or what force is used, can extinguish another race.

The effect of these words generates a form of acceptance of these facts. Moreover, King establishes an overwhelming feeling of guilt by using emotional appeals, such as when he states, “…when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” This particular appeal induces a graphic visualization for his audience- a visualization that becomes unbearable when transferred onto their own children. The effect of this appeal is that it makes his audience realize that the treatment King and his supporters have been receiving is cruel, and especially so when these hateful words and actions also apply to children- people of complete innocence who have no earthly idea of what this conflict really is. To sum it all up, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. successfully incorporates numerous emotional appeals in his letter to invoke a feeling of guilt and a willingness to change amongst his audience

members. In doing so, he is able to establish a common ground and atmosphere of unity, in order to engage his audience in a conversation that addresses segregation and oppression.