Martin Luther King as a Fighter - Essay Example

Martin Luther King was one of the most affluent fighters for the rights of the African Americans of his time and a man in whose footsteps many great leaders were to follow later. King was not only a person with whom the local African American community could share an understanding; he was also in tune with how to communicate with the greater and wider population of America. His use of language and speech enabled him to move crowds and even lead some to second judge their concepts of the world.

In his Letter to Birmingham Jail, Martin King made use of narratives from various religious narrations. He tries to relate to the clergymen who have written to him criticizing him by explaining to them how he has to carry the gospel like Jesus did (University of Pennsylvania). His letter makes one feel as though they are in the middle of the situation allowing for a more in-depth connection with the situation at hand. In the letter, there has been use of a definition of how nonviolent campaigns take place in a society so as to involve not only the clergy but to enlighten the people in general as to what the process truly is.

Martin Luther King makes use of examples in the letter that keep the conversation simple and practical for someone who might not be too literate, which was the case with many African Americans at that time. He continues to use examples from the bible and stories of Jesus to explain his cause for doing what he did. He even goes on to use the example of what Hitler did in Germany in the name of justice against the Jews and how the moderate whites were doing something similar to the Negros by denying them their rights (Hari Sharma, 2007).

King has drawn great use of narratives to keep his letter simple and easily accessible to not only his critics but also his audience to whom he eventually addresses the letter in the end. With the use of examples, he draws in the clergy on their own terms by keeping the conversation about them. Not only that, Martin Luther King draws examples from the past and puts light on the heroes who broke the laws in their own time and managed to do something great while those who kept within the boundary of justice.

Not only this, he pulls the clergy into the argument by calling them hypocrites for they have an obligation to do justice. He states that he is in Birmingham because there has been injustice that is there and so the people of the church should be out protesting against it.