Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is one of the most important documents in 20th century American history. It is both a record of a time and also a skilled piece of rhetoric. The paper will discuss the letter by showing the way in which King uses language in order to show his meaning. It will begin by describing the main argument of the letter and will then go on to analyse the elemnts of rhetoric that it uses.
The main argument takes the form of King’s reply to a group of church of people who have criticised his arguments for African American freedom. In particular, it takes the form of a justification which aims to explain to the church people about why King is in his current location and also about importance of the work that he is doing at the time that he wrote the letter. King begins by informing the people who will read it that he was in Birmingham in order to work with people who had asked to be there and to conduct non-violent actions. He then uses several religious metaphors in order to show the people who read the letter that what he is doing is the same as actions that have been taken by people in the Bible. He writes: “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…so I am compelled to carry the Gospel of freedom beyond my home town” (1963, 154). By comparing himself to figures in the Bible, King makes it clear that he considers that his work has historical importance. He also uses this to show to the clergy people who will read the letter that he should be treated as intelligent and as possessing a good knowledge of history. The language that he uses is calm and clear, and this helps o make it seem as if King has moral authority when he is writing.
King then goes on to describe the nature of the United States and he argues that it is not possible for one person to be an outsider to another area of America. He says that people have said that he no place in Birmingham because he is not from there, but he defeats the logic of this argument by saying that all places in America connected. He writes: “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny” (155). Because of this interconnectedness, King says that: “Anyone who lives inside the Unite States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds” (155). In this passage, King moves between poetic speak and more scientific language in order to make his argument. The combination and contrast of the two means that he appeals to the emotions of people who read he letter but also that he is able to appeal to their intelligence as well. King is like both a professor and a preacher within the language of the letter. Throughout the letter he therefore uses both metaphor and careful thinking when talking about what he wants.
At important points in the letter he also takes the logic of people who criticize him within the church and turns it against them. To begin with, he says that they are wrong because dislike the demonstrations that King helps to organize but that they do not criticise the reasons that make him organise them. He also says that those who criticise him care less about the church than he does. For example, he says that much of what he is doing, he is doing for the sake of the church and because he loves it so much. While some people might say that he not doing Godly things, or that he is putting the church in danger, King insists that things are not like that. He states that: “I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grand-son, and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as being the body of Christ, but oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through of being nonconformists” (163). Instead of admitting that he has done wrong, or that the people who criticize him are wiser than he is, King instead says that he cares more about the church than they do. If they cared more about the church they would seek to join him in his mission for justice, instead of simply standing by and accusing him. By doing this, King makes it clear that only does he understand what people say about him in the church, but also that he is able to counter it by showing that is more wie than they are.
It the combination of metaphor, historical legitimacy and the ability to turn arguments aroud that makes “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” a masterpiece of rhetoric. King engages both the hearts and the minds of the people who read the letter, and he also makes it clear that he is able to understand and to defeat their arguments. All of this is combined with a calm and clear prose style that means that his arguments are easy to understand and that they can therefore easily influence the person who reads them into agreeing with King’s position.
- King, Martin Luther. Letter from Birmingham Jail. 1963.
