Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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1. Martin is trying to invoke a sense of guilt within the readers in order to make them reflect and try to correct their horrible actions towards black people. In the letter, Martin writes,"… when you have seen a vicious mob lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sister...". Martin uses the words such as, vicious and "at will" to describe the white people's cruel actions. Towards the end of the letter, Martin writes," I wish you had commended the negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, and their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation." This quote is a prime example of Martin's disappointment, he believed that the white people had the heart and the compassion to empathize the negroes. By using quotes like these, he is able to remind the reader who is in wrong and invoke a sense of guilt within the reader.

2. The King is also trying to open the reader's eyes to the magnitude of the mistreatment of African Americans. He shares his thoughts saying, "It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no …show more content…
Finally, the King is justifying his actions and is refuting the statements made by the clergymen. This letters original intention was to of course answer the men that have criticized his work claiming that it is "untimely" and "unwise". In the letter, Martin writes,".. I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms." The reader can obviously see that this letter is an answer to the clergymen. Martin can be seen justifying his actions when he wrote,"Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direction seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue." This quote acts a both a refutation and a justification in the way that it refutes the clergy's "untimely" comment, but yet justifies why he is doing what he
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