Violence Does Not Solve Anything

Elaine Black
Essay Six
English 101
Due 12-14-2010

Argumentative Martin Luther King had a ginormous impact on a huge amount of people in the past, present and it is safe to say, the future. The way he spoke, grabbed the attention and addressed his audience was powerful in many different aspects. He earned the respect of many individuals who listened to him. In the document Non-Violence and Racial Justice, Martin Luther King addresses justice, oppression, respect and non-violence resistance. Martin Luther King was a peaceful man and never the less, tried to influence, impact and persuade others to be peaceful as well. Throughout his document, he utilized different techniques to grab the reader’s attention and hold onto to them until he had portrayed the information he had wanted. By the end of this document, the reader should have at least gained knowledge, understanding and insight about non-violence resistance. It is said…”Violence doesn’t solve anything.” Martin Luther King was illustrating that violence will not accomplish anything. In this document, Martin Luther King is unraveling slavery, oppression and justice. He uses a phenomenal metaphor by saying this about slaves, “He was considered a thing to be used, not a person to be respected. He was merely a depersonalized cog in a vast plantation machine.”(King 1) Martin Luther King clarifies that the Negros were brought to America by force to be slaves and were property just like anything else that is bought and sold. The Negros' were not viewed as a human and was not given any rights until “1896 through the Plessey v. Ferguson decision, a new kind of slavery came into being. In this Decision the Supreme Court of the nation established to doctrine of “separate but equal.”” (King 2) It was soon discovered that yes, they were separate, but they were not equal and injustice was still in place. Violence does not solve anything and Martin Luther King goes on to explain the benefits of non-violence resistance. Soon, the Negro Americans were required to travel and in doing so “his economic life began gradually to rise, his crippling illiteracy gradually to decline. A myriad of factors came together to cause the Negro to take a new look at himself.”(King 3) They were now determined to fight back and break free from the grips of oppression and segregation once in for all. They would have justice, and no one was going to stand in their way. There were two ways to execute injustice, violently or the alternative to violence, non-violent resistance. Martin Luther King was a peaceful man. He promoted peace throughout everybody and he used choice of words, speeches and various documents to promote peace throughout this country. He said in this document, “Violence solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.”(King 4) Violence doesn’t solve anything. Non-violence resistance did, and the five reasons why it worked are explained. Non-violence resistance was passive aggressive or non-aggressive all together. Instead of being physically aggressive, non-violence resistance was physiological, all in the brain, eluding the other party to believe they were incorrect, wrong or misinformed. This approach also didn’t intend to knock the other individual down to their knees. It is about friendship, understanding and hopefully being able to shake hands in the end. “The aftermath of non-violence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness.”(King 5) Another reason according to Martin Luther King was because this method attacks evil, instead of the human being that is being controlled by it. The last two reasons why this approach was successful were because of love and faith. King uses a metaphor which is as follows to explain hate and love, “Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chains of hate.”(King 7) Obviously, there is no such thing has a chain of hate, but a metaphor is two things that are compared to make a vivid picture in the readers imagination. Finally, the last method is faith. Faith is needed to believe that God is truthful and will ensure that justice is achieved. Violence doesn’t solve anything. In this document, Martin Luther King is trying to persuade others to be peaceful and take this document to heart and really let this information soak into their mind and memory. His objective was to make people think and imagine the lives of these people who were oppressed, ridiculed and treated with out justice. Non-violence resistance was a very passive aggressive or non-aggressive approach all around. Martin Luther King was an amazing speaker and writer. He persuaded people across the nation with his rhetorical techniques, which made his speeches and documents stronger and more creditable. Throughout this document, his choice of words was captivating and drew the reader into the text. He used every method he could to persuade his reader, support his reasoning and create thought. At the end of this text, the reader should have obtained a better understanding of violence and non violence. Remember…violence doesn’t solve anything.