Rhetorical Analysis
The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on 16 April 1963. The letter was a response to a newspaper statement written by clergymen. Martin Luther King’s purpose in writing the letter was to defend the nonviolent strategies that his organization used. Being logical and well put together, the letter has effectively used rhetorical devices such as pathos, logos, and ethos. However, pathos seems to be the most powerful and effectively used rhetorical device in the text. For instance, the King uses pathos in the text to back up his affiliation’s pacifist approaches, convince readers that nonviolence is the best way of handling situations, vividly give a picture of what black Americans go through and show how the justice system treated African Americans.
Pathos has been used in the text by Martin Luther King to back up his affiliation’s pacifist approaches. In the letter, the King has shown what the south would be like in case they embraced violent actions. He has also shown how African Americans would suffer if they decided to comply with the segregation laws. In the text, the King says, “if this philosophy of nonviolence had not emerged, by now many streets of the south would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood”(Apsel, 230). This is an emotional text aimed at showing why he would choose the pacifist approach over any other approach. He does not support the idea of violence as this would lead to flowing blood, especially in the south streets.
Similarly, in the letter, pathos has been used to convince the readers that nonviolence is the best way of handling situations. Through a vivid and emotion-provoking image, readers are convinced that handling situations require nonviolence. He says that the best pacifist way for his affiliation is marches and pilgrimages going to city hall. He adds that African Americans should get out their frustrations. He continues to say that most African Americans who have decided to adjust to segregation are so drained of self-respect. These are some of the ways in which the King uses the letter to convince the readers nonviolence is the best way to handle different situations.
Moreover, Martin Luther King Jr. has used pathos in the text to vividly picture what black Americans go through. In the segregated south, Martin Luther King says that black Americans go through unjust situations. In the text, he states, “when you find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; 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”( Schwartz, 377). This text shows how emotional it is for one to explain to the children how the whites mistreat African Americans. Therefore, this text has effectively used pathos to give a clear picture of black Americans’ hardships.
More importantly, Martin Luther King Jr. has used pathos to show how the justice system treated African Americans. In this case, the King emotionally shows how policemen mistreat African Americans. In the text, he states that it is certainly difficult for anyone to commend the policemen after observing their inhumane and ugly African Americans’ treatment. He says that policemen have a tendency to push and curse old women and young girls and slapping and kicking old men and young boys. He gives an example of two instances in which the policemen refused to give them food just because they wanted to sing their grace together. The good thing is that all these mistreatments have come to the public’s attention since cameras record these instances everywhere. The recordings are posted to social media, and therefore, the general public can take a glimpse of them.
Even though pathos has been used effectively in the letter, there has been the use of logos to explain the nonviolent strategies logically. He says that nonviolent direct action intends to create a crisis and foster a tension that a community is forced to confront an issue arising. In this case, he tries to define nonviolent’s direct action goal. Apart from Martin Luther King introducing himself as SCLC president, he has not explicitly used ethos. For example, he does not claim to be the greatest political strategist of all time, and this shows exactly how ethos has not been used effectively.
Conclusively, the King uses pathos in the text to back up his affiliation’s pacifist approaches, convince readers that nonviolence is the best way of handling situations, vividly give a picture of what black Americans go through, and show how the justice system treated African Americans. Even though pathos has been used effectively in the letter, there has been the use of logos to explain the nonviolent strategies logically. Apart from Martin Luther King introducing himself as SCLC president, he has not explicitly used ethos.
Works Cited
Apsel, Joyce. “Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and Nonviolent Social Transformation.” Great Books Written in Prison: Essays on Classic Works from Plato to Martin Luther King, Jr. (2015): 230.
Schwartz, Earl. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: From World to Word.” Word & World 38.4 (2018).