King's "A Letter From Birmingham City Jail": An Analysis
Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest speakers for the Black
civil rights movement, had written many great works in his time. Two of his
pieces stand out as his greatest works, Letter from Birmingham City Jail; a
letter written from a jail in Birmingham where he was arrested for
demonstrating peacefully, to clergymen who didn't agree with his views, and
I Have a Dream; a speech given by King in front of the Washington Memorial
at a huge civil rights tea party. Both works convey the same message: the
time has come where Black Americans will not stand for civil injustices any
longer. The way in which the works are written, however, are different, for
one is a letter, to be read by a few, and the other is a speech, to be
A Letter from Birmingham City Jail is exactly that; it is a letter
King wrote to a group of clergy members who disapproved of his actions in
Birmingham City. The fact that this is a letter is blatantly apparent right
from the beginning, King's use of first person clearly defines it as him
talking to the clergy members, not a convention, or a rally, nothing
In his first paragraph, King establishes why he is in Birmingham,
however, he is not clear, as he states, ". . . [he], along with several
members of [his] staff, [are] [there] because [he] was invited [there].
[He] is here because [he] has organizational ties [there].". In other words,
he was there because what he does brought him here, kind of like a job.
In the second paragraph, he becomes crystal clear, by stating that
he is " . . . in Birmingham because injustice is [there].". Not only does
he present why he is there, but he justifies it by alluding to biblical
characters such as "the Apostle Paul", and "Paul" who did the same. Not
only is this a show of intellect, but it is as well an appeal to the senses
of his audience, for they are, af...