Analyzing Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'

Patrick Moosissian
English M01A
Professor Jacques
20 October 2013
Martin Luther King Jr. Reading through the commentaries of George E. Carter and Keith D. Miller, another perspective of Martin Luther King Jr. was exposed to me, that I was unaware of when first reading his famous works such as, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and his famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. Both men offered a different side of their views on MLK, providing analysis on his rhetorical writing styles as well as his influences in his writings. Transcendentalism can be seen in works of Martin Luther Kings, but his influences in his writing reach much further than that ranging from his Christian roots all the way to his findings while reading works of Gandhi. George
E. Carter’s analytical response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s literary work illustrates MLK’s works reflecting latent Transcendentalist views. American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau had influence on Martin Luther King Jr.’s literature, shown in his work called “Letter from Birmingham”. While in jail, he asked the same question to the white religious leaders of the South as Thoreau did to the latter when asked why he was in jail, which was, “What are you doing out there?”. Overemphasis on the influence of Thoreau has distorted the picture according to Carter, he believed that Martin Luther King Jr. “would have found valuable, support, inspiration, and ideas parallel to his own” (318 Carter) from lesser-known Transcendentalist. For example, Carter supports his reasoning when he states, “If King, for example, had read the well-known Unitarian minister and reformer, Theodore Parker, he would have found a source for his own “higher criticism” approach to the study of the Bible.”(319 Carter). George E. Carter later goes on to state how Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. are fundamentally different from each other. An example of their differences can be shown when looking at what each person’s primary interest are, Carter illustrated this when he explains, “Thoreau, like most other Transcendentalists, was primarily interested in reform of the individual while King was primarily interested in reform of society.” (321 Carter). While speaking on the interests of Thoreau, Carter further backs his position when stating, “While he encouraged others to adopt similar protests, he did not attempt to mount any mass action against unjust practices” (321 Carter), referring to Martin Luther King Jr. in his action against mistreatments of African Americans. Ultimately, through reading Carter’s analysis on Martin Luther King Jr.’s work, I have developed the knowledge that although Thoreau influenced MLK, he fundamentally adhered to a different primary interest. Keith D.
Miller illustrates the rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his literature through his commentary. Miller states that, “King’s social gospel directly reflects the theology of his father, his grandfather and Borders.” (76 Miller). Miller goes on to support his reasoning when he explains, “Their non violent protests- not his reading of Thoreau, Gandhi, Nelson, or Wofford-provided his initial and most significant lessons in nonviolence.” (76 Miller). Miller continues on to analyze King’s rhetorical strategies when addressing the issue of repetition. Martin Luther King Jr. uses reputation throughout his “I Have a Dream” speech. Miller discusses that repetition is an effective tool when preaching a message; he does this when he states, “it helps ensure congregational participation.”(76 Miller), and also when he explains, “A homilist develops authority by embracing well-loved disclosure, creating a voice by melding it with those of previous speakers.”(76 Miller). MLK uses repetition as a way to embed the message in the audiences’ head so it wont be forgotten easily, repetition was also used to show significance in the message being delivered. Another main point of repetition was the audience had a sense of unity because they were aware of the hymn that was drawing them into the preaching. Miller also speaks on the rhetorical strategy that is known as “voice merging”. King Jr. uses voice merging to allow the audience to draw personal connections when he is preaching. Miller illustrates when Martin Luther King Jr. uses voice merging when exclaiming, “In ‘I Have a Dream’ he merges his voice with that of ‘Amos’ (‘We shall never be satisfied till justice rolls down like waters…’) and with those of Isaiah and Jesus (‘I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…’).” (78 Miller). Keith D. Miller’s commentary provided me with information on different rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr.; he effectively illustrated ways
in which MLK could deliver a message that captivated his audiences. Even though George E. Carter and Keith D. Miller provided much clarity to the context of Martin Luther King Jr.’s literature work, they also left some unanswered questions after reading their commentaries. I was puzzled wondering Carter seemed to go back and forth about Thoreau’s influence on King Jr.’s ideas. Carter stated in the earlier parts of his commentary, “If King had read more of Thoreau he would have discovered that he and Henry would have had fundamental differences.” (321 Carter). Carter later goes on to state in the end of his commentary, “As historian Benjamin Quarles has noted: King ‘spoke to man’s conscience of his fellow man.’ The same can be said of Thoreau, Emerson, Parker, Alcott, Higginson, and the other Transcendentalists of the mid-nineteenth century, who in Emerson’s words believed man was ‘connected to God by his conscience.’ ”. (324 Carter). I felt Carter’s approach to be sort of bewildering in the fact that he seemed to change his position around throughout his commentary, not quite every grasping one exact standpoint. Keith D Miller’s commentary brought up many different points in such a small amount of literature that it became quite unorganized when reading through it all. He began stating different people who influenced King Jr., and then abruptly began speaking on different rhetorical strategies he used as well as where he developed these strategies. I personally feel that his commentary was a lot to swallow at once, ranging from a large amount of categories, I believe he should of taken more time to elaborate on his ideas and construct them in a clearer way so that the audiences, such as myself, would not have to read over each section multiple times before finally grasping the ideas. Although both commentaries had there moments of imperfections, all in all I found them to be very eye opening when looking at Martin Luther King Jr. in his literature and the ways in which his styles were formed.

Both George E. Carter and Keith D. Miller’s commentaries provided further understanding of Martin Luther King Jr.’s literature in more than one aspect. George E. Carter explored Thoreau’s influence on MLK, revealing that even though he influenced MLK, that the influence he attained was not so great and that Luther Jr. could have been further enlightened if he chose to do readings on other less known Transcendentalists. Carter further established my knowledge on the issue that King Jr. had his similarities and differences from Transcendentalists, traits that made him unique. Keith D. Miller made me realize that Martin Luther King Jr. obtained his practices from many different sources of people, but the most powerful source of knowledge he had obtained was from his father and his family. Carter further established my knowledge in revealing rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr., also revealing how he learned of these strategies, but most importantly, how these strategies helped Martin Luther King Jr. be one of the greatest speech givers in American history.

Patrick Moosissian
English M01A
Professor Jacques
20 October 2013
Works Cited

King Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. New York: Norton, 1997. 1854 – 66.