Connor Collins

English 211
9/12/15

Literary Analysis
Throughout time there have been people who have always opposed tyranny and have
always combated injustice, the greatest of those people is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of Dr.
Kings greatest actions was his Letter from Birmingham Jail which is where he had addressed
the clergy members discussing why he believed that he should keep advocating illegal nonviolent action and how he would continue to do so. Dr. King uses historical references, biblical
allusions and the modes of persuasion in order to convince the public and the clergy that there is
a need for this type of non-violent action to combat prejudice. In the third section of the letter the
use of these is absolutely evident.
Dr. King uses ethos, pathos, and logos all throughout this letter in order to not only
convince the clergy who this is directly written to but also to the African American public. In this
section King says So I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court because it
is morally right, and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances because they are morally
wrong this is a clear use of ethos right here. Logos is the appeal to ethics and logic in that
sentence he mentions the word morality twice and I believe was trying to explain to the public
why he believes that disobeying the law is ok for people to do. He is trying to emphasize this
more towards the African American population in order to make them believe that what he is

saying to do is the right thing to do as opposed to what other more extreme civil rights group
believe is correct.
Dr. King also uses many instances of Pathos but he uses pathos towards both the clergy
and the African American public as well. Dr. king is addressing the clergy member when he
begins to discuss how he was arrested on Friday he says Now there is nothing wrong with an
ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve
segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and
peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust he is trying to explain why he believes that his
imprisonment is just a means as a way to keep him from speaking to the public and that him
being imprisoned is not going to stop him from getting his message out to the public. He also
begins to talk about the African American population in Alabama focusing on voting, he says
Throughput the state of Alabama all types of conniving methods are used to prevent Negroes
from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties without a single Negro registered
to vote, despite the fact that the Negroes constitute a majority of the population.. Any African
American located in the United States would be absolutely appalled to hear these things being
done to their people. I would think that the majority of African American people who read or
heard this letter would absolutely agree with what Mr. King is saying. Not only that though it
also helps bring the public towards his own cause.
Within his letter Dr. King uses a lot of biblical allusion within his writing to compare
segregation to different events within history. For instance when he says It was practiced
superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain
of chopping blocks before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. With this he
is trying to tell the African American public to stand up against something if you believe that it is

unjust. Dr. Kings main point is to stand up to and fight segregation because it in itself is unjust
and that no matter what they do to you, you cannot let your goals change. Dr. King also talks
about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they refused to bow down to King
Nebuchadnezzar. He then proceeded to throw them into the furnace where they lived and did not
get burnt by the fire because they stayed true towards their faith. What Dr. King tries to
communicate here is that if you stick to your ideals then in the end then you will be rewarded for
your commitment to your ideals.
With this section of the letter Dr. King uses a very powerful historical reference to
communicate with the public he says We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany
was legal and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was illegal to aid
and comfort a Jew in Hitlers Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that
time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. Now
whenever you reference Hitler in anything youre obviously trying to say that something is
wrong. What Dr. King does by comparing segregation to what Hitler did in the Jewish
community. By comparing the two it allows doctor king to show the public how bad segregation
actually is. He also mention show if he was alive during that time he would have tried and help
the Jewish community in any way he could of. Now this is clever because its trying to express
that no matter if something is illegal or legal you have to stand up for what you believe in or
nothing will ever change.
Within this letter there are going to be many instances were Dr. King will uses rhetorical
devices in order to develop his point. He uses the modes of persuasion, biblical references, and a
very string historical reference in order to advocate the need for non-violent action by the
African American public and to explain to the clergy members why this action is needed. I have

never read a more powerful letter and the way that Martin Luther King Jr. uses literary devices is
magnificent and paints a picture so easily. I know that if I were to read this and I was from
Alabama I would absolutely stand up for what I believed was right.