Is Martin Luther King's Tone In Letter From Birmingham Jail

When learning something new, it is easier to understand a topic or a philosophy when the person learning can feel a connection to what they are learning about. For example, teachers, authors, and philosophers often use metaphors or similes to help their pupil connect with their views, ultimately furthering their understanding. A string of facts behind facts does not register as well as something that can be directly connected to someone. Although both Martin Luther King, author of “Letter From Birmingham City Jail” and a strong advocate for African American rights, and Gandhi, author of the “Dandi March Speech” and leader of the Indian Independence Movement, both use rhetoric to further convey their message of equality and nonviolent direct action to their audience, King’s passion infused diction is ultimately more convincing than Gandhi’s logical approach. While using …show more content…
Martin Luther King is arguably far more desperate to see society reform because it is his neighbors, his family, his brothers who are being discriminated against. Although government cruelties affect Gandhi as well, King is more adamant about showing how segregation affects him personally, therefor causing his speech to be more powerful. When writing to his (sarcastically stated) “fellow clergymen” (King) King refers to how “the stinging darts of segregation” (King) impact his loved ones directly. He mentions the pain his six-year-old endures, describing her agony and how he had to “see the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told Funtown is closed to colored children.” (King) The seemingly most insignificant word in that sentence, little, holds so much emotion and so much power because it fabricates a child’s despair. While the clergymen may not all have children of their own, they have encountered children in their life, thus, while reading this sentence they associate King’s daughter with a more generalized child in