You are on page 1of 1

Analysis 1: “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Martin Luther King once said “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without
wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” Indeed, when Martin
Luther King lead the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s, he believed in a nonviolent
resistance, where his people persuaded others in making a change. And yes, nonviolence is the
strongest weapon to fight with, the one that can alter another’s mind without harm or brutality. For
instance, its best features are simply words and ideas, which expose all the arguments put into
place to convince the opponent . This moral value desires to change and evolve mentalities by
eliminating the oppositions but not the opposers. Nonviolence is the real combattant; the one who
seeks for justice, for moral principles, and for freedom. By this mean, it is the only fighter who
wishes to detach the cruelty of the human being without injuring . Martin Luther King embodies this
concept through “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, where he states “In any nonviolent campaign there
are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self
purification; and direct action.” Nonviolence is the key of life which opens the door to peace and
enables the entrance to inhumanity. Hence, this pacifist position divulges the weakness of
violence, where one does not reveal any faith or courage, but only rage and anger. In final
analysis, Martin Luther King personifies the theory of nonviolence through his campaign and
mainly through his written work “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which owed him a great power of
resistance.

You might also like