Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanist, and a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. With MLK being such a strong leader for Civil Rights he had several speeches to give, each written with a different purpose but the same goal. MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was written in response to those that accused him of being an extremist. Throughout his letter MLK used various forms of allusion, anaphora, and pathos in order to get his point across to the people that accused him of being an extremist and to the clergymen that called him unwise and untimely.
Being a pastor, MLK not only referenced the Bible and biblical figures but he also referenced various well known philosophers and theologians throughout his letter. In his third paragraph, King uses the Apostle Paul to compare his goal of spreading freedom to Paul’s goal of spreading the gospel to the Greco-Roman world. “Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the corners of the Greco-Roman… I am compelled to carry the the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” In King’s ninth paragraph he references the famous Greek philosopher Socrates in order to tell his fellow clergymen that they need to do all that they can do in order to be free from segregation even if it caused tension
Martin Luther King Jr. used various biblical figures, theologians, and philosophers to back up his nonviolent actions that were not supported by his fellow clergymen or by the people that called him an extremist. Not only did he use important historical figures but he also used some of his own personal experiences to show what the colored community had gone through and the things they saw during this time of segregation and violence. He saw the need for change and he stood up and took the lead in a nonviolent way, making the nonsegregated world we live in