Most of the people were highly influenced by religion at that time. So, in many parts of the letter, he uses the name of God to appeal to the people, “But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom…” (728)
Besides using God to appeal to the audience, King presented real scenarios of the life of the black people to arouse sympathy towards the blacks using pathos. He made the people think the hopeless life the blacks were living during that period when he wrote, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society,” (720)
King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a great piece of writing. He has been able to make it one of the most widely read article. Emotional strength of the article is one of the factors behind the success of this writing. Despite the use of stereotyped sentences, his message is clear and sensational. Thus, it is a masterpiece among King’s