Allusions In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this Open Letter on April 16, 1963, after he was arrested for protesting without a permit in Birmingham, Alabama. He was protesting peacefully, until a group o white people made it a big deal, which made Dr. King and other protesters in jail. He wrote this letter as a response to fellow clergyman who considered his actions “unwise and untimely”. The predominate reason of this letter is justify his presence in Birmingham, which is that he is trying to change segregation as social justice and his use of civil disobedience as an instrument of freedom. He is trying to convey his readers about his injustice in Birmingham and how it is our right and responsibility as a human being

There are various types of allusions that occurs in this letter like; in paragraph 26, the author sets an example about the scene on Calvery’s Hill that three men were crucified for the same crime of extremism. Another example in paragraph 15, the author mentions about Thomas Aquinas about the idea that injustice anywhere is a threat of justice everywhere. In this well written open letter different types of devices were used for example; simile was used when Amos said; “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like am ever-flowing stream”. In paragraph 26 the author quoted different types of special scholars, which builds up his creditability and that would lead to ethos. When the author was describing the scene in paragraph 13 it was described in a way the description is vivid and clear. Which me as a reader I could literality picture the image in my head. Also, the tone/attitude in the piece was used in that paragraph that actually grabs the reader’s attention to understand his and others