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Writing 100
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Persuasive Tactics: “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a letter written
in response to the Clergymen of the city of Birmingham. Dr. King wrote about all of
the points the Clergymen had written about in the letter, however; he wrote about
them from his point of view. One of the quotes that Dr. King quoted in his response
letter that is powerful was originally said by St. Augustine, which is “an unjust law is
no law at all” (King, p. 434). This quote has a great impact on the readers of this
article because it is a quote that most everyone can agree with. Martin Luther
quoted other famous people and biblical references in this letter to help make his
argument stronger, the argument that change needs to occur in a nonviolent matter
and that everyone should have equal rights. Throughout this letter, Dr. King created
quotes that he is known for saying such as “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere” (King, p. 430). In this article, Martin Luther King uses quotes from
other famous people, key phrases, and real life stories to persuade the reader to
understand his point of view.
Martin Luther used a handful of quotes from other influential individuals to
help persuade the views of the reader. One of the quotes Martin Luther used to help
persuade was the quote said by St. Thomas Aquinas, “An unjust law is a human law
that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law” (King, p. 434). This quote is a very
powerful quote that is plain and simple. It is used effectively by Martin Luther King
Jr. and helps get the message across that an unjust law is not actually a law at all.
The use of this quote helped make this argument stronger at that moment in the
letter because the quote was the opener to the part of the essay about unjust laws.
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This part of the essay went on for approximately two pages of the letter. The fact
that Martin Luther used this quote helped get his point across faster and effectively.
Other quotes that are used to help persuade the readers are a various collection of
quotes on page 438. A limitless amount of people are quoted including John Bunyan,
Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. All of these quotes suggest that everyone is
equal and that they have done all they can to make equality a part of everyday life.
The use of quoting a group of people helps persuade the masses that read this
article because most people who have read the article recognize at least one of the
names of the people quoted. All of the people who are quoted are respectable people
who most individuals agree with. These views towards the people quoted help make
the quotes credible and influential throughout the letter, however; Martin Luther
King Jr. had a few phrases of his own he incorporated to make the piece of literature
persuasive.
The way Martin Luther King Jr. phrased words helped convince the readers
of this article to agree with his point of view. The first example is the most quoted
line from this article, which is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
(King, p. 430). The order of words in this sentence has a great impact on the
meaning of the words. If the quote was instead “Justice everywhere is threatened by
injustice everywhere”, the quote would not have as much of an impact because some
people may believe that the quote sounds funky and out of place. This famous quote
is concise and has a powerful meaning behind it. Another quote that Dr. Luther
created is “…we were the victims of a broken promise”(King, p. 431). This quote has
an impact on the reader because the reader can relate to the quote and put
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Writing 100
themselves in Dr. King’s shoes throughout the quote and the letter. Everyone has
been “a victim of a broken promise” at least once in his or her life, even if it was not
as enormous as Dr. King’s. This assumed knowledge of all people in society allowed
him to write a quote that the reader was able to relate to. Since the reader was able
to relate to his quotes, Dr. King used real life examples in his letter that people could
relate to.
Martin Luther used real life stories and examples to help persuade people to
see things from his point of view. An example of this is when Martin Luther King Jr.
talks about his personal experience where he told his daughter that she could not go
to Funtown because it was closed to colored people (King, p. 433). Every parent at
that moment who cared about taking their children out to amusement parks or
pleasing their children knows what it is like to tell their children that they are not
allowed to go. The children are miserable and upset because they are not allowed to
go and have fun with everyone else. However; this quote hits home harder to the
parents of the miserable children because the only reason Dr. King’s daughter is not
allowed to go to amusement park is because of her skin color. Some parents do not
allow their children to go to amusement parks because their children were
misbehaving or because the parents believe that amusement parks are bad places.
In this situation, nevertheless; Dr. King’s daughter does not have the right to go to
the amusement park. The use of this story was a good persuasive tactic to get others
to agree with him because the general public can relate to that situation. Another
example of this is when Dr. King talks about the police of Birmingham and what they
have done to his friends and other African-American’s in the community. Dr. King
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talked about how the women and girls were pushed around by the police and how
the prisoners were not given any food because all they wanted to do was sing grace
together (King, p. 442). This story impacts others who read it because they can
relate to these situations themselves. Religious families can relate to this example
because most of them pray before dinner and cannot imagine what it would be like
to not pray before dinner. Some white Americans may have imagined what it would
be like to be without food only because they weren’t allowed to express their
religious beliefs, which could have pulled on some heartstrings. This example is very
relatable and a good story to use when trying to persuade others and have them
place themselves in the shoes of the prisoners because it is relatable to many
citizens. Martin Luther King Jr. knows how to sway the public to believe his point of
view.
Throughout the essay, Martin Luther King Jr. uses various persuasive
techniques and tactics to have the public see and understand his point of view, even
if they do not agree with it. The letter is a very powerful piece of literature that
people to this very day still appreciate and use when writing persuasive essays. The
use of the numerous techniques such as telling stories, quoting famous citizens, and
creating powerful dialogue has created an irreplaceable piece of literature. Even the
best authors, English majors, and creative writers have trouble writing a piece of
literature as powerful as this. This work is impeccable, which makes it hard to
believe it was originally written on napkins. The clergymen were not expecting such
a polished and professional response letter from Martin Luther King Jr., or an
effective response letter than made the reader think about all of the hardships
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African Americans were going through at the time. Martin Luther King Jr. got his
beliefs across to the citizens of the United States that helped start a change in the
American society in the 1960’s. The change was a great one that could not have been
accomplished without this letter.
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Writing 100
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther Jr. Response. Letter from Birmingham Jail. April 16th, 1963. Print.