Argument and Analysis Essay

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Argument and Analysis Essay 1. In demonstrating intolerance to injustice, Martin Luther King Jar’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” contains the expertise of pathos to strike a cord with the audience on injustice throughout the letter. King uses the aspect of pathos to explain that injustice should not be tolerated, especially in America. To strike the audience, Martin invokes empathy, sympathy, love, and anger to highlight the injustice engulfing the civil rights movements, and that is why he is at the Birmingham jail at the time of his writing the letter. He highlights, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (King 43). Throughout his letter, King strikes his audience on injustice by using comparisons of biblical characters and himself to sky-high the pathos of respect for his cause, which is the cause of truth. Martin also compares his responsibilities to the responsibilities of the Lord’s apostles. By using the comparisons in striking the audience on injustice, King makes the audience feel the grandeur of injustice due to his fight to bring the universe to the truth, as had Jesus and his apostles. He highlights, “…I too compel to carrying the gospel of freedom past my home town. Like Paul, I must consistently respond to the Macedonian call for aid” (King 53). There is even a point where King compares his cause to Jesus’ cause. This is when stating the issue of condemnation, which arises simply because they are the minority. He highlights the civil rights movement is a God-sent event. The King discuses how they were facing danger, as many early Christians did, just because of their holding on to the truth. This is evident in his discussion of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that they were living a high profile moral law and refused to lessen their stance even to death. He also reiterates that Christ was an extremist for love, and so are his works. He says, “So the problem is not whether we will be extremist, but what extremist will we be” King’s use of these religious examples tells how he was comparing the beliefs of those known for their steadfast devotion to truth (King 73). King also uses another mode in evoking the pathos of disgust and sadness as injustice by describing horrific events during non-violent protests. "Like so many endeavors of the past we were countered with blasted hopes, and the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon us” (King 43). King also uses vivid images to of injustice and anger at the evil acts committed. This is when he describes the vicious mobs lynch unto fathers and mothers and the drowning of sisters and brothers at whim, including policemen brutalizing black brothers and sisters with impunity, is when they will understand why they do not have to wait. This apparently shows how King uses the choice of words such as “at whim” to evoke sympathy, or empathy of injustice. In strengthening the sympathetic pathos of injustice in his letter, King focuses on the historical events and people, and simply because something is legal, it does not make it right, especially segregation. King states that Hitler was legal when he went murdering many Jews and did cruel scientific experiments; however, according to him Hitler was not just. He compares the Hitler anti-Semitic Germany to American segregation, that many people believed Hitler’s activities were unjust and inhumane, hence, leads the reader to the fact that segregation is unjust. It is also apparent that King is not championing his race only, but the human race as whole. He does not shy away from helping Jewish brothers if they need it, even more, he treats everyone as equal. King further uses t...