Anning Li
ENG 201, Section 41
Professor Matyakubova
March 22, 2015
The letter had demonstrated how powerful one’s words can be,
King uses pathos to bring readers into a perceptual world that the current
white society abuse of. As King
described, there were many legitimate but unfair laws. Segregation
itself was not fair, king mentioned in the letter, “All
segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and
damages the personality” (Jr, 1963 P.3). By the quote King is
telling the world that in order to establish equality, they have to desegregate
the society, otherwise the society would never be ideal due to the twisted
human soul. There was a law specially
made in the southern area was called Jim crow law, “It legalized the separation
of public system of black and white society” (David, P.2012). Blacks and whites were educated separately,and the African-American
were often mistreated in school even if they had paid the same amount of money. King
writes the letter with affirmative tone and it goes to national audience, he
allows reader to examine the society and put their opinions and emotion on the
barbarian action. Readers can experience the feeling a negro may have during
the segregation time by reading his letter.
King utilized
ethos perfectly which makes
his language so strong. The credibility connects readers better and make
the letter more persuasive. He included readers as a part of the civil
movement.It demonstrates that he is willing to discuss with reader and make a
better connection with audience. Also he shows Negros are hoping the untied of
both society. King uses ethos through out the letter, when he says, “was catapulted
into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery and have the honor of serving as
president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” (Jr, 1963 P.4-5). He
implies that he is the one has most authority to speak of the object because he
is the one deeply indulge in the civil right movement. At the end of the
letter, King reminds that he was writing the letter in small cell which also
makes the letter more convinced. It shows King is prepared for the tackle and
he was not surprised of imprisonment. King really knows what he was saying and
doing, which make readers have faith in him.
One’s word can never be so persuasive if the person had not been through
tough road, he is not a exception. King knows injustice still occurs and if it
happened to one people, the rest of people is going to suffer the same. He
realized there must be some action in order to gain the attention from
majorities. He lead African American to urge the society to desegregate by
non-violent disobedient. He dedicated his whole life, fight for the human
rights of colored. He started with gathering people for boycott, which, caused
his house to be burn down and lost of his liberty. King’s life was full of
tackles,but it will not stop him in contribution to African American’s society.
He clearly knows, the
only way he can truly liberate blacks, regain their entitlement is to keep
going on the road. The suffering will only make one stronger.
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most influential leaders in
American history, this letter is one of many reason why citizens have equal
rights. His passage spreads a great impact on reader by some eloquent
sentences. One example is “Oppressed
people...oppressed forever"( Jr,
1963 P.4). The
quote means none will stay in the downfall forever.Unlike other complicated and
long sentence, it is short and clear at a glance.King refers the people in the
sentence to African American who are always oppressed. Another example of
syntax “Are you able to accept blows without
retaliating?" and
"Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?” (Jr, 1963 P.2). In those questions,
King really wants reader to think hard. He hopes reader could put themselves
under each of those situations, and feel his emotion. By Using the syntax King
is really able to involve with readers, he wants reader to actively participate
in his ideas.
King states that he is willing to live up
his dream and his pursues and it is not a matter if the consequence would be
unmerciful punishment. He writes the letter with irony to strengthen his words
and let the society know that he is still with them even though his body is in
jail. In order to obtain realism, one has to know it’s fundamental element,
which is Irony. King assumes reader would ask for the reason of his imprison, so he
explained, “Several months ago our local
affiliate here in Birmingham .......organizational ties here”(Jr, P.1 1963). The quote means where injustice
occurs they will be there. It is ironic because the men who are willing to
speak up for injustice, will be throw into jail. King used irony to protrude protesters
braveness, confident and wisdom. His imprison had shown that injustice was
truly exist, and he did the right thing. As a leader, King kept his promise.
The quote demonstrated King’s commitment in civil movement and proven that
being a leader, one needs to confront many unknown possibilities. He used the
power of irony to satirize the cruel society.
King does a
great job in integrating the reasons for black people who constantly breaking
the law at the time. The used of allusion has shown that it was the injustice
law cause people to offend. King explains, “In any nonviolent campaign there
are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices
exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. We have gone through
all of these steps in Birmingham”(Jr, 1963 P.1).this
reveals that king knows the injustice exist and it is particularly set against
Negros. Despite, King follows procedures of non-violent action precisely, but
he and his marchers were still under arrested. It alludes that unjustified law
was meant to be break and people who dare to step up should not be punished. It
is the law itself was faulty and the society was bias, so they were forced to
break the law.
King states many of his opinion in requisite
of freedom, it allows reader to follow up with his intention, lead us travel
through his mind. He says, “We know through painful experience that freedom is
never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”
(Jr, P.4 1963). this quote means that liberty is given to those people who are
willing to fight for it, live for it and die for it. It will not come to you if
you were careless.By the quote king emphasis that he is part of the nation. The
quote was a perfect example of his opinion toward freedom. It conveys that the
African-Americans has to take executive actions to prove the value of their
life. It is also an indicator for the start of the march against injustice in
Birmingham.
In “letter from Birmingham jail” King uses of
feverish tone really inspire readers and help people understand the severe
circumstance that they are in. One can easily feel Jr’ s emotion when he writes
, “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we
afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who
lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider” (Jr, P.1
1963). It implies that injustice to one African-American directly, and to the
whole group indirectly, they will no longer endure the inequality. They believe
all people are equal in America. This quote alone with aggressive tone, which
enable reader to perceive King’s strong desire for equality. The usage of the tone brings us
an image of people, who are constantly mistreated has united together by the
desire for liberty.
The biggest strength of this letter is the
used of pathos. He describes, “But when you .....when
you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in
an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society” (Corky.S
May 3, 2012). The quote means Negros were living in
poverty and the condition was really bad. The passage also provided us example
of images. The used of verb such as
lynch, curse, kick, kill and drown help to portray
how badly racial differences influenced the way negro live. Also in order to gave
us a concept of the harm bring by segregation he says, “the stinging darts of
segregation.........” (Jr, P.6 1963). It portrays that segregation hurts people
both psychically and mentally, and they are not willing to suffer anymore. All
examples he indicated, has emotion appeal to reader, the verb he used create
vivid pictures,which readers would feel like they have seen blacks were beating
by cruel police. It enhances the letter by ties up the relationship between the
Negros and the nation. King concluded the letter with the most effective language to the
final urging people to join his ranks. These words deeply touched the reader's
heart and expressed the mood that he can beg for the freedom if it would works.
References
Corky, S.(May
3, 2012)Birmingham erupted into chaos in
1963 as battle for civil rights
Exploded in South,
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