Cassidy Wood Dean

Sister Bird

FD END-101:27

19 June 2018

A Rhetorical Analysis of “Letter” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most influential men in the civil rights movements

in the 1960’s. He pursued education in Georgia, there receiving his doctoral degree. He later

became President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King is well known for his

fearless perseverance in the pursuit of integration. He has given and written many speeches and

non-violent, informative messages, by which he is well-known. One of such messages, is called

“Letter,” written while he was imprisoned in Birmingham Jail. In this address, King responds to

recent statements regarding his movement, accusing them of being “unwise and untimely.” King

mentions that he has never written a letter as long as this address, “what else can one do when he

is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts, and pray long

prayers?” King uses logos, ethos, and pathos, to capture the reality of injustice his fellow

colored men and women face; to urge why there is no better time to fight than now; and to

illustrate the emphasis on direct action and non-violent approach.

Martin Luther King, Jr. first appeals to ethos--showing his own personal credibility in

regards to the movement, telling how he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership

Conference with affiliates in the human rights movements. He helps the reader to understand his

own personal connection to the rights he is fighting for--as well, he states that his obligation is in

direct relation to his “organizational ties.” King goes on to appeal to pathos, after introducing his
personal ethos, desires to bring the reader to an emotional connection. King explains exactly why

he is in Birmingham; “because injustice is here.” He makes his purpose very clear, but goes on to

relate himself to Apostles in the New Testament, acknowledging his duty, just as those apostles,

to “carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” Through pathos, he is able to tap

into the readers sense of duty and obligation; through a religious standpoint.

One revolving theme King addresses rhetorically, is that injustice is everywhere.

Appealing to logos, he states, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He points

out that we cannot have both extremes. In Birmingham, they have had to resort to fight against

demonstrations- with no other alternative. This is where the importance of non-violent

movements, is addressed. As the negroes felt consistently the “victims of a broken promise,”

they began nonviolence workshops to prepare for the extremes ahead. King alludes to pathos by

asking some self-evaluating questions, “‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?’ ‘Are

you able to endure the ordeal of jail?”’ These questions appeal to the pathos of the reader,

allowing them to internalize, to what extent would they be willing to go to or sacrifice for their

civil rights.

With a smooth transition, Kind appeals to logos explaining why direct action is

necessary. He urges that netation is a better, and more effective way. With logos, he explains that

negotiation is the sole purpose of taking direct action. He later appeals again to pathos,

suggesting that, “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by

the oppressed.” Supported by logos, he addresses that for the oppressed, there is never really the

best time to act. “Wait!” being a word too familiar to the people he is advocating for--the word

wait, really signifying “never.” He supports this with logos again, saying, “justice too long
delayed is justice denied.” What justice will one have, if it is constantly being put on tomorrows

“to-do list?”

King again, taps into the pathos side, listing numerous occasions and injustices that the

Negroes face daily, such as “nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored,” as well as always

fighting the “sense of nobodiness.” This is supported by logos, touching on why is is morally

right to break laws that are morally unjust. With supporting ethos by St. Augustine, who said,

“an unjust law is no law at all.” Later, through ethos and pathos, King reminds the reader that

what Adolf Hitler “did in Germany was ‘legal.” But those Hungarian freedom fighters, and there

actions, were considered “illegal.” Pathos suggests through these facts, that sometimes one must

break the unjust, immoral law to find justice and stand up for morality.

Later in his letter, King supports the importance of non-violence movements through

logos, saying “if his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek

expression through violence;” If there is no healthy outlet, there will be outbursts. He again

supports this through pathos, suggesting we can be two types of extremists: one for hate, or one

for love. He uses Jesus christ as an example as an extremist for love, ultimate love. He shows

that Christ enveloped “truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.” Which

logically, is what it takes to overcome injustices in the world.

Further on, through logos, King also explains the misconceptions of the police--how they

preserve the “evil system of segregation” through acting nonviolently in public, which he states

is immoral. Supported through ethos, King refers to T.S. Eliot, saying, “...to do the right deed for

the wrong reason,” is one of the greatest treasons. Martin Luther King, Jr. established a
well-rounded balance of logos, ethos and pathos to support his movement for civil rights

justice--while helping others to understand his true purpose behind it.