Zaid Yasin

Mr. Yerkes

Period 2 APEL

17 January 2017

“A Letter from Birmingham Jail”

“A Letter from Birmingham jail” is likely one of the most influential pieces Martin

Luther King Jr. ever wrote; in it he details the stress dealt the African American community and

the civil rights movement by apathy and negligence on part of the modern church and the

Birmingham clergy. King’s message is clearly portrayed through his writing style and eloquence.

The opening segment of the passage immediately appeals to the audience’s sense of trust

with biblical and religious references in order to snag the attention of both religious and

non-religious audience members alike. King kicks off the passage by relaying an anecdote

portraying the power of the old church and its ability to push social change. King notes that

“Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed…” King

relates the members of the civil rights movement to the early Christians by drawing a parallel to

the negative public reaction the Christians faced with the negative public reaction the members

of the civil rights movement faced. The early Christians are seen as having the moral high

ground despite the negative press associated with them, and King connects them with the early

Christians as they both fought for what was morally right. King then draws a tighter connection

between the early Christians and civil rights activists by noting that they were “called to obey

God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment.” The civil rights activists,
like the early Christians, were very small in number, yet their fierce fight for what was morally

right paved the way for desegregation and equal rights for all races.

Midway through the passage, King lambasts the contemporary church for not taking

enough action in assisting the members of the civil rights movement through analogy and

metaphor. King critiques the ineffectiveness and laziness of the modern church, noting that the

church had a “weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.” The silence of the church

contrasts heavily with the booming roar of the activists. By maintaining a neutral stance, they

lose the respect of the quickly increasing base of civil rights activists. King addresses this later

on in the passage, mentioning that “every day I meet young people whose disappointment with

the church has turned into outright disgust.” As the church loses support, it becomes more of a

club rather than an authoritative figure and a beacon of inspiration.

Kings rhetorical stylings are most evident in the final segment of the passage, where he

utilizes parallel structure and juxtaposition to convey the endless battle between the legally right

and the morally right. King praises his constituents with a metaphor, noting that they’ve “broken

loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity.” Chains are a staple of oppression as their sole

purpose is to restrict and confine. Not only is conformity oppressive to oneself, but in the case of

the civil rights movement, it was oppressive to all blacks. By breaking through the chains of self

oppression, King’s supporters unchain the entire black community of their shackles. King then

uses anaphora to convey the sense of unity between his supporters. The repetition of the phrase

“they have” throughout the entire second half of the final paragraph portrays a sense of both

comradery and endlessness. King details the arduous trials the members of the civil rights

movement had to face, including “[leaving] their secure congregations and [walking] the
streets… [going] down the highways of the south on tortuous rides for freedom… [and having

gone] to jail with us.” By describing the dedication of his followers King is able to show both a

sense of unity through collective struggle and drawn out bleak hopelessness by reiterating over

and over the struggles the movement has suffered through. Kings usage of anaphora and

metaphor aids him in conveying to his audience the need to expedite the progress of the civil

rights movement.